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DIET FOR CHILDREN 



DIET FOR CHILDREN 



A Complete System of Nursery Diet with Numerous 

Recipes; Also Many Menus for Young and 

Older School Children. A Home and 

School Guide for Mothers, 

Teachers, Nurses and 

Physicians 



By 

LOUISE E. HOGAN 

(Mrs. John L. Hogan) 

Author of 

"How to Feed Children," "A Study of a Child," "The 

Introduction of Domestic Science in the Schools of 

New York City," U. S. Government Bulletin 

No. 56, "Timely Hints for Mothers 

and Nurses," "The Child in 

Sickness and Health," etc. 



INDIANAPOLIS 

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright 1902, 1910, 1916 
By Louise E. Hogan 






fa 




FEB 2M-.9J6 



BRAUNWOHTH & CO. 

BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS 

BROOKLYN, N. Y. 



2CI.A420857 

Hi) /, 



PREFACE 

A further study of the subjects taken up in my previ- 
ous books and the cordial reception given them by the 
medical profession, the press and the general public, com- 
bined with many requests from mothers and nurses for 
an inexpensive handbook that would show them in still 
greater detail the working out of the principles advanced 
in the earlier works, lead me to offer this book in the hope 
that it may sufficiently meet their needs. It should show 
them how, under conditions of health, as well as of ill- 
ness, they may often assist and control a child's mental, 
physical and moral growth through that care which de- 
pends on simple wholesome food, well selected, well pre- 
pared and carefully given. It is hoped that this volume 
will meet the daily requirements of physicians who rarely 
have the time to direct in detail the management of chil- 
dren's diet. It should also suggest to the mother and 
nurse just when the physician should be sent for, and 
when they may themselves aid him in his efforts by the 
exercise of intelligence and judgment in the selection and 
preparation of foods indicated for various ages and vary- 
ing conditions of illness and convalescence. 

Louise E. Hogan. 
New York, 1916. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Why Mothers, Teachers, Physicians and Nurses Must Un- 
derstand Food Principles and Their Practical Application 1 
Explanatory Lists of the Various Classes of Nursery Foods 7 

Foods Forbidden 9 

Nursing and Mother's Food > , 9 

Menus 24 

Simple Supper Dishes for Summer and Winter .... 49 

Diet in Illness . 54 

Peptonized Foods for Illness 57 

Antidotes for Poisons 65 

Recipes — Broths and Soups 83 

Cereals 93 

Muffins, Bread, etc 97 

The Use of Vegetables in the Nursery Ill 

The Place of Fruit in the Nursery Diet 119 

Desserts 125 

Notes 139 

Index ....... v . • • 145 



DIET FOR CHILDREN 



DIET FOR CHILDREN 



WHY MOTHERS, TEACHERS, PHYSICIANS 
AND NURSES MUST UNDERSTAND FOOD 
PRINCIPLES AND THEIR PRACTICAL AP- 
PLICATION 

Every one who has the care of children finds out, 
through experience, that it is absolutely necessary to 
select carefully the foods that are suitable for their re- 
quirements. It is now very generally understood that 
the old idea of giving children the same food as that of 
adults is a dangerous one. It is also understood that it 
has, perhaps, been too frequently the custom among 
adults to think that anything that is provided for them- 
selves in the way of food might be given with impunity 
to children, forgetting that the food an adult can receive 
and assimilate can easily do harm to the tender organs 
of the child depending so largely for its development on 
care in this direction. It is not only that the child's 
proper development may be retarded by carelessness and 
ignorance at this period of life, but disease is sure to fol- 
low such practises. Growth and waste and repair go on 
in a nearly uniform way the whole year through, but 
the amount of food necessary for this work is surpris- 
ingly small. The great surgeon, Abernethy, said that 
one-fourth of what we eat keeps us, and the other three- 
fourths we keep at the peril of our lives. In winter we 
burn up the surplus food with a limited amount of extra 
exertion. In summer we get rid of it literally at some 
1 



2 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

extra risk to health, and, of course, to life. We can not 
burn it. Our vital furnaces are banked, and we worry 
the most important working organs with the extra exer- 
tion of removing what would better never have been 
taken into the stomach. 

Important Points to Keep in Mind. — We know that 
a nourishing diet must be supplied for the entire season 
of youth, beginning with the proper care, during in- 
fancy, of the food then required. We also know that, 
as a child grows, we can add stronger and stronger foods, 
watching by results until the time comes that it can safely 
take what is prepared for all. A few of the most im- 
portant points to keep in mind under all conditions and 
through all ages are these : First, we must never forget 
that through eating the child replaces waste caused by the 
constant action and change going on in the organs, and 
that we do not want to increase waste, which causes ill- 
ness ; hence, we must not overfeed. Second, if the child's 
digestion is normal, and its life is an active and out-of- 
door one, we can give it stronger food, and more food 
than we would if it lived under other conditions, namely, 
in a warmer climate, or if leading a quiet life. Third, 
if a child's condition is a little below normal, or if at 
all times its digestive power is not strong, we must give 
particular attention to the quantity supplied and the in- 
tervals of feeding. Fourth, the diet must be well bal- 
anced, which means that we must have the right pro- 
portion of the parts given for the building of the 
body — namely, eggs, milk, meat, etc., — the right propor- 
tion of food which gives energy and keeps it warm ; and 
we must also know how to supply as nearly as possible 
the same materials that the body is regularly losing ; as, for 
instance, we give heat-forming food in cold weather and 
liquid in hot weather. Drink constitutes food, as well 
as what we eat. Rules given should not be considered 
inflexible, to be followed implicitly, but should be sug- 



• WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 3 

gestive. Mothers should patiently try to find out the 
peculiarities and food idiosyncrasies of their children, 
and accommodate themselves to them precisely as they 
do in regard to their clothing, etc. Doctor Eustace Smith 
says : "The successful rearing of an infant by artificial 
means is not a difficult matter. It requires intelligence 
and tact; but, above all, it requires watchfulness. If 
we are vigilant to detect the first signs of discomfort, 
and at once modify the diet accordingly, we may be sure 
of preserving a healthy tone in the stomach and ward- 
ing off all the accidents to which a child less carefully 
nurtured might possibly succumb." 

The Mother Who Understands the Principles of 
Food Action Finds This Knowledge a Great Aid. — As 
each class of foods serves its own peculiar purpose in the 
body, it can readily be seen why it is necessary for a 
mother to understand, or at least be advised, by some one 
who knows, something about foods and their action. 
Many mothers may say that they do not cook the food 
their children eat ; others that they do not care to, or that 
they do not have the time to. Probably, under certain 
conditions of life, this may be true and unavoidable. It 
is not actually necessary, however, for the mother to cook 
what is given to the child, to have it well-fed; she 
should know, however, just what to select under certain 
conditions, and exactly how it should be prepared, if 
possible. If she can not understand so much as this, 
she should at least know how food should taste when it 
is properly cooked, in order to require its proper prepara- 
tion, when obliged to judge by results alone. A little 
supervision, judiciously applied, will often prevent diffi- 
culties that are likely to occur as a result not only of 
carelessness on the part of servants, but many times 
from lack of definite direction. If given a handbook of 
the necessary character, a careful servant, with a few 
directive words or marks from her mistress, can carry 



4 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

an average child safely through a day, or longer, and 
thus give the mother leisure for many things which, 
under ordinary conditions, she might be obliged to forego 
if at all conscientious about what is being given to her 
child at the nursery table. 

In cases of illness, where a mother naturally feels that 
personal supervision is absolutely necessary, she should 
watch that temperament is considered and likings con- 
sulted; that the food be more daintily prepared; that 
the child be fed more frequently and less at a time ; that 
more liquid food be given — more water, perhaps, under 
certain conditions of weakness, the giving of which is of 
great importance. 

Use of Water. — Any one who has watched the average 
care of children will agree that it is not unusual to de- 
prive infants almost entirely of water because they drink 
milk; the fact being overlooked that milk, although a 
liquid out of the body, becomes in the stomach a solid 
food. This is a common error, and one that causes many 
conditions of illness, especially constipation. 

How Undigested Food Does Harm. — The sum and 
substance of all the study one can give to the subject is, 
that if the food is not such as digestion can master at 
the time, it is useless, and can only do harm, whether for 
an infant or for an adult. Not being turned to proper 
account, the blood receives no new supply and is impov- 
erished; the body is not nourished or developed, and 
inherited tendencies are given an opportunity to force 
their way to the front. Many diseases to which children 
are liable — more especially those during the school age, 
when young people are under the greatest pressure, owing 
to the craze for mental growth at the expense of physical 
development — would be likely to disappear under strict 
supervision of hygiene and diet. This is also true of the 
various infantile disorders, catarrhal and nervous trou- 
bles. The average mother finds more difficulty in feeding 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 5 

her children satisfactorily than in any other class of home 
work. This she does in two ways: directly, in which 
event she is fully aware of her difficulties ; or indirectly, 
when she is only brought to a knowledge of them by re- 
sults that she recognizes because of her understanding of 
the underlying causes of nervous, irritable, peevish and 
other feverish conditions, which are largely brought about 
by malnutrition. 

Food Nutrition and Tissue Starvation. — Those who 
know what tissue starvation is understand the principles 
of food nutrition. Those who do not fondly, yet de- 
lusively, imagine that eating means nourishing. Some- 
times it does mean this; but more frequently, with chil- 
dren, it does not. It is not what one eats, but what one 
digests, that tells the story in ruddy cheeks, pink ears and 
lips, sound teeth, sound sleep, bright eyes, even tempers, 
straight limbs and active minds. What one eats and does 
not digest tells quite another story: namely, pale faces, 
sleepy eyes, fretful dispositions, flabby flesh, flat chests, 
sleepless nights, etc. 

Want of sufficient exercise diminishes tissue change. 
This is what causes tissue starvation — improper food 
and lack of hygienic care, with lack of sufficient exer- 
cise. The subject is one of so many sides that one can 
only take up generalization at first, until food principles 
have become so deeply imbedded in our minds that we 
can then study how to apply these principles to indi- 
vidual cases, which is the chief value of the entire study 
of foods and nutrition. It is not what we know about 
it, but what we know and do, that makes a study of value 
from a practical standpoint, and cooking should be con- 
sidered a branch of practical physiological chemistry, and 
be duly recognized as such. 

Disease Caused by Errors in Diet — Perhaps the fol- 
lowing words of Sir Henry Thompson, the famous Eng- 
lish authority on food, are truer than we think. He 



6 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

says: "I have come to the conclusion that more than 
half the disease which pertains to the middle and latter 
half of life is due to avoidable errors in diet; and that 
more mischief, in the form of actual disease, of impaired 
vigor and of shortened life, accrues to civilized man from 
erroneous habits of eating than from habitual use of 
alcoholic drinks, considerable as I know that evil to be." 
Herbert Spencer says: "Perhaps nothing will so much 
hasten the time when body and mind will both be ade- 
quately cared for as a diffusion of the belief that the 
preservation of health is a duty. Few seem conscious 
that there is such a thing as physical morality. Men's 
habitual words and acts imply that they are at liberty to 
treat their bodies as they please. The fact is, all breaches 
of the law are physical sins. When this is generally 
seen, then, and perhaps not till then, will the physical 
training of the young receive all the attention it de- 
serves." Froebel said, fifty years ago, "The child, the 
boy, the man, indeed, should know no other endeavor 
but to be at every stage of development wholly what 
this stage calls for ; the earlier stage for human develop- 
ment and cultivation is always the more important. In 
its place and time each stage is equally important, but of 
the first (upon which future normal, physical and mental 
growth depends so largely) there can be no question of 
its importance; hence, upon mothers rests the responsi- 
bility for the first step, for they have the first oppor- 
tunity. The child's food is a matter of very great im- 
portance, not only at the time (for the child may, by its 
food, be made indolent or active, sluggish or mobile, dull 
or bright, inert or vigorous), but, indeed, for his entire 
life. Parents and nurses should ever remember, as un- 
derlying every precept in this direction, the general prin- 
ciples that simplicity and frugality in food and in other 
physical needs during the years of childhood enhance 
man's power of attaining happiness and vigor — true ere- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 7 

ativeness in every respect. If parents would consider 
that not only much individual and personal happiness, 
but even much domestic happiness and general prosperity, 
depend on this, how very differently they would act ; but 
here the foolish mother, there the childish father, is to 
blame. We see them give their children all kinds of 
poison, and in every form, coarse and fine." If one 
may judge from expressions such as these, there would 
seem to be a reproach cast on those who are responsible 
for the proper care of children. Let us see to it, then, 
as mothers and caretakers of children, that it is not 
resting at our doors. 

EXPLANATORY LISTS OF THE VARIOUS 
CLASSES OF NURSERY FOODS 

Proteids. — These foods, when eaten and digested, are 
tissue-builders, and repair waste. More proteid foods 
are needed in disease than in health, as they are more 
easily digested than vegetable foods. 

Milk Partridges Mutton 

Eggs Gelatin Chicken 

Raw oysters Beef Squabs 

Lamb Turkey Fish 

Veal Pheasant 

Milk is a complete food in early childhood when 
growth is active, consisting of — 

Proteids Caseine or cheese 

Carbohydrates Sugar 

Salts Phosphates 

Fat Cream 

Eggs also form a complete food, if the shell, which 
supplies the chick with salts, is taken into consideration : 
hence, for children, supplement eggs with salt-giving 
foods. 



DIET FOR CHILDREN 



Carbohydrates (Starches and Sugars) 
(Make heat and stimulate energy) 



Beans 

Oatmeal 

Graham flour 

Oats 

Boston crackers 


Peas 

Graham bread 

Wheat flour 

Rye 

Milk or oyster crackers 


Cornmeal 
Wheat bread 
Barley 

Graham biscuits 
Macaroni 


Note. — The above carbohydrates contain a large per- 
centage of proteids; those that follow do not: 


White potatoes 

Arrowroot 

Cakes 

Sweets 

Muffins 


Rice 

Sago 

Crackers 

Dates 

Bananas 


Sweet potatoes 

Tapioca 

Sugars 

Molasses 

Figs 



Note. — Professor Atwater says, "The vegetable foods 
are rich in carbohydrates, like starch and sugar, while 
the meats have not enough to be worth mentioning. On 
the other hand, the meats abound in protein and fats, 
of which the vegetables have little. Beans and oatmeal, 
however, are rich in protein, while fat pork has very 
little. Carbohydrates are found in the grape-sugar of 
fruits, the sugar and starch in vegetables and the seed- 
giving flours." 



Green corn 
Green peas 
Fresh Lima beans 
Stewed fruits 
Strawberries 



Salt-Giving Foods 

Spinach 

Green string-beans 

Onions 

Peaches 

Pears 



Celery 
Tomatoes 
Brussels sprouts 
Apples 
Cranberries 



Cream 
Butter 
Chocolate 



Hydrocarbons or Fats 

Bacon fat 
Cod-liver oil 



Olive oil 
Cocoa 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 9 

FOODS FORBIDDEN 

The following foods are forbidden under all circum- 
stances in the nursery until after second dentition, except 
where indicated: 



Ham 

Sausage 

Pork 

Salt fish 

Dried beef 

Corned beef 

Goose 

Duck 

Broiled kidneys 

Stewed kidneys 

Liver and bacon 

Stewed liver 

Gravy from roast or fried 
meats, except dish gravy. If 
carefully made from roasts, 
without grease, according to 
recipe given in chapter of 
recipes, it may be used after 
five years. 

Meat stews as usually made, 
but they may be given if 
made as directed on page 
104. 

Raw celery 

Raw or fried onions 

Radishes 

Cucumbers 



Baked tomatoes 

Stewed tomatoes, except as di- 
rected on page 114. 

Fried tomatoes 

Raw tomatoes, except as di- 
rected on page 114. 

Fried potatoes 

Pickled beets 

Carrots 

Pastries 

Griddle cakes 

Fresh bread 

Meat pies 

Fruit pies 

Rich cakes 

Hot biscuit 

Muffins, unless made as di- 
rected on page 97, when they 
are permissible for a child of 
five. 

Doughnuts 

Preserves 

Canned fruits 

Tea 

Coffee 

Liquors of all kinds, unless in- 
dicated by a physician. 



NURSING AND MOTHER'S FOOD 

Ideal Conditions for Nursing. — A large number of 
infants are deprived unnecessarily of their natural food. 
As knowledge increases, this will undoubtedly occur less 
frequently. To nurse a child normally, a mother should 
be strong and healthy ; have an even happy temperament ; 



10 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

be desirous of nursing her infant and able to devote her- 
self to this special duty. She should be willing to regu- 
late her diet, her exercise and her sleep, according to 
rules laid down by physicians. These may be said to be 
ideal conditions. Many women, however, who are far 
from vigorous, may nurse their infants with good result. 
One point to remember is, that the temperament must be 
controlled. Detailed affairs in life must not be allowed to 
hurry anything touching the infant. Periods of rest must 
be regular, and diet should be such as will keep the body 
at the highest possible point of normal health. 

Exercise for Nursing Mother. — Exercise should be 
constant and sufficient. It has been shown that a case 
of convulsions in a child was controlled by the return to 
a daily walk of a mother who gave up her habitual exer- 
cise because of wearing a pair of tight shoes. Her phy- 
sician discovered, by the results in the child, that she 
was neglecting her daily exercise, and a close examina- 
tion of the mother's actions brought forth an unwilling 
confession that she had not taken her usual walk because 
of this reason. Had she known the principles underly- 
ing food-action, she might have reasoned out for herself 
that, because of lack of exercise, the milk she was feed- 
ing to her infant was becoming too concentrated and 
needed more water, and she could have given the child 
a drink of water before nursing it, which would have 
corrected the evil. This is one instance, only, to show 
a thinking mother why it is worth while occasionally to 
understand the principles of things in order that she 
may help herself, when, under other conditions, she 
might have to call a physician, or perhaps cause her 
child to suffer. 

Reasons for Not Nursing. — It is of great importance 
that mothers who are suffering from some chronic dis- 
ease, or one that their infants may directly inherit, should 
give up all thought of nursing their children. 



.WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 11 

Nursing Diet for Mother. — Taking it for granted that 
a child is being nursed, under whatever condition of life 
for the mother, the following points are to be remem- 
bered: The mother's diet should not include too much 
meat and solid food; an abundant light diet should be 
given at first, such as milk gruels, soups, vegetables, 
bread and butter, and, after the first week, a small amount 
of meat once a day; increase diet as the exercise in- 
creases, using plain but nutritious foods, taking regular 
meals, and sometimes using, between mealtimes, coffee, 
hot milk or cocoa. 

Use no stimulants. 

Malt extracts are useful, and milk taken at night is to 
be advocated. 

Idiosyncrasies are to be looked for, and if certain 
articles disagree with certain women, and, consequently, 
with their children, they should be omitted; but they 
need not be forbidden to all women on that account. 
Physicians say that an average woman should use a plain 
mixed diet, with a moderate excess of fluids and proteids 
over what she is normally accustomed to. 

How to Feed an Infant the First Two or Three 
Days. — If, during the first two or three days of the life 
of the infant, it is restless and evidently hungry on ac- 
count of the mother's inability to supply milk, one or 
two drams of a five-per-cent. milk-sugar solution, made 
by dissolving milk-sugar in sterilized water, should be 
given at intervals of two or three hours. If the mother's 
milk is delayed still longer, it will be necessary to de- 
pend on the physician, who should specify exactly what 
is to be given. 

Intervals for Nursing. — Doctor Tweddell says in How 
to Take Care of the Baby that the infant should be put 
to the breast five or six hours after birth, and then every 
four hours for the next two days; after that according 
to the following schedule : 



12 DIET FOR CHILDREN 



1st & 2d day 


1st & 2nd months 


3rd, 4th & 5th months 


After 


Every 


Every 


Every 


5 months 


4 hours 


2V4 hours 


3 hours 


Every 8 hours 


4 a.m. 


6 a.m. 


6 a.m. 


6 a.m. 


8 a.m. 


8 :30 a. m. 


9 a.m. 


9 a. m. 


12 p.m. 


11 a.m. 


12 a. m. 


12 p. m. 


4 p.m. 


1:30 p.m. 


3 p. m. 


3 p.m. 


8 p.m. 


4 p.m. 


6 p. m. 


6 p.m. 




6 :30 p. m. 


10 p.m. 


10 p. m. 




10 p. m. 


2 a.m. 






2 a.m. 







Night Feeding. — Note that night feedings are omitted 
at five months. The mother may thus have continuous 
sleep at night. The regularity of proper intervals in the 
feeding of infants influences greatly the comfort alike of 
mother and child. 

Too frequent nursing renders milk too solid, lessens 
the water and gives the child colic. Too long intervals 
makes the milk too watery, and fails to give it its neces- 
sary nutrition. 

Weight and Nutrition. — Increase of weight is the best 
evidence as to nutrition. Doctor Edward T. Davis says : 
"A child may gain, by proper food, from a half ounce 
to an ounce daily for the first four or five months, and 
half the amount for the rest of the year. If at any time 
the child does not gain in weight, and the mother's milk 
seems insufficient, it would be proper to add to the breast- 
feedings a properly prepared milk made up according 
to the formula of a reputable physician. If teething is 
delayed, it is an evidence of poor feeding." Doctor 
Tweddell says most mothers expect infants to gain six 
to eight ounces a week during the first year, and this 
often leads to overfeeding. During illness children lose 
weight very rapidly, but when convalescent they often 
regain their weight equally rapidly, as much as six to 



.WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 13 

eighl ounces a week. Gain in weight is often arrested by 
trifling disturbances of health. 

Growth. — The well-nourished child should grow about 
eight inches the first year, or nearly three-fourths of an 
inch every month, and four inches the second year — not 
quite half an inch a month. An infant should double 
its weight in five months and treble it in the year. It 
should be weighed and measured monthly. If it does not 
increase at the rate of about a pound a month the first 
year, and about twelve ounces a month the second, in 
all probability its food will be found at fault. 

Weaning. — Under all circumstances, even if a mother 
is healthy and the milk is good, the child should have 
been weaned by the end of the first year, often at the 
seventh to eighth month. It should usually be taking 
by this time plain cow's milk, with a starchy food of 
some kind. When a child has six or eight incisor teeth 
it is supposed to be able to digest starchy food. Some 
physicians advocate the use of starchy foods much ear- 
lier than others ; but it depends very largely on the con- 
dition of the child and the preparation of the starchy 
food. All these matters may be regulated by carefully 
watching the child's development from week to week 
in weight, general condition, restlessness, etc. It is always 
preferable to wean the child in cool weather, before or 
after the hot season, and when it is not cutting teeth. It 
should never be weaned suddenly. 

Method for Substituting Bottle Food.— The food sub- 
stituted should be given very gradually. Whatever prepa- 
ration is used should be given first at but one feeding a 
day, nursing at the other usual hours, until the child 
shows that there has been no disturbance from this slight 
change. This may require from two to three days. 
Taking it for granted that there has been no disturb- 
ance during this time with the use of one bottle of pre- 



14 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

pared milk, it will be safe to introduce another, not at 
the hour for feeding which is directly after the hour 
when the first bottle was used, but at an hour dividing 
the bottle feedings evenly throughout the day by giving 
one in the morning and one in the evening. Many 
mothers who have given attention to this subject in a 
careful way have learned that by giving the first bottle 
in the evening they themselves can secure the rest they 
often need, and that the child is quiet throughout the 
night because it has had a comfortable meal. It is pos- 
sible absolutely to control the child's condition by milk 
that is thus given ; as it may not always be possible for a 
woman to regulate her whole day when she is nursing 
her child, her own tired condition at the end of the day 
may be the cause of a fitful restless night on the part 
of the child, the last feeding of the child having been a 
disturbed one. It is well known to physicians that an 
emotional mother or an overtired nursing mother will 
frequently have a crying child at night. This can usually 
be avoided as soon as supplementary feeding is begun ; 
hence it is always best to begin any change by giving 
the first bottle at night-time. The milk must have been 
cared for sufficiently to keep it absolutely sweet through- 
out the day. 

If two bottle feedings a day, replacing two nursings, 
are found to agree with the child, then three may be 
used, and so on, until every meal is being given from the 
bottle. 

Changing from, Prepared Milk to Plain Cow's Milk. 
— Should this milk feeding for weaning be prepared ac- 
cording to a physician's prescription, the change must 
even then be made from the modified milk to plain cow's 
milk as gradually as the change has been made from 
nursing to the modified milk ; that is, one bottle of modi- 
fied milk should be replaced with the plain milk, and upon 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 15 

finding it agreeing, two bottles daily should be used and 
so on. 

Home Preparation of Starch Foods for Infants. — 
Very careful preparation is necessary. One point to be 
emphasized in substitute feeding is that an artificial food 
must always be so well prepared that it may be safely 
used at any time it may be needed. The first starch 
foods to be used are usually preparations of barley and 
oatmeal, selected by or made according to the formulae 
of a reputable physician. 

Starch foods imperfectly cooked undergo fermenta- 
tion; hence such formulae call for long cooking. 

For Doctor Rotch's recipe for Oat Jelly, to be used 
in the first year, see page 97. 

For Malted Gruel, see page 95. 

For Oatmeal Gruel, see page 93. 

For Oatmeal and Graham Flour Gruel, see page 94. 

For Barley Gruel, see page 94. 

For Farina Gruel, see page 94. 

For Arrowroot Gruel, see page 95. 

Great Care of Milk and Bottles Necessary. — Com- 
paratively few people stop to consider how very quickly 
dangerous changes take place in milk, and how readily 
it becomes contaminated. The carelessness so frequently 
shown by milkmen, maids and nurses plays an important 
part in infant mortality. 

Requirements for Pure Milk. — It is generally con- 
ceded, to-day, as the result of much investigation on the 
part of philanthropists, scientists and physicians, that 
it is imperative that the cows supplying the milk receive 
the care required to supply as pure and clean a milk as 
it is possible to procure ; that the milk be properly han- 
dled and cared for, and be kept cold ; that the cream be 
separated from the milk if possible by a separator espe- 
cially adapted for the purpose; that all the ingredients 



16 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

used in modifying milk be perfectly sterile; and that 
everything that can possibly touch the food of a child 
be clean, sweet and wholesome. When we find that this 
can be depended on wherever a child's food is to be 
found, we will begin to see the spreading of its influence 
in a marked degree on the health of the children of not 
only the poor in large cities, who have now to struggle 
as best they can against sour milk, heat, dust and ten- 
ement life, and all the evils and discomforts that attend 
the very poor, but on many children in all classes of life 
who to-day give evidence, from the richest to the poorest, 
not only of lack of cleanliness, sweetness and wholesome- 
ness in their food, but of great and culpable carelessness. 

What Is a Good Food for Baby. — Doctor Jacobi says, 
"A good food for the baby does not mean one which 
simply doesn't kill; it is one which permits a child to 
grow up healthy and strong." 

Why Milk Is Pasteurized. — It is not generally known 
that every year, in the United States alone, many thou- 
sands of children die for want of care in the preparation 
and administration of their food. Every year, however, 
more attention is being given to purity of milk and to 
the possibility of keeping it sweet for the length of time 
required for commercial purposes. It is recognized, how- 
ever, that infected milk is one of the chief sources of 
contagion in various diseases ; and for this reason many 
physicians advocate the application of sufficient heat, 
one hundred and fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit for thirty 
minutes, which kills those germs which are dangerous to 
the child without destroying the quality of the milk as 
a food, which a higher degree of heat would do. This 
is the most available practical way for preventing con- 
tagion and keeping milk sweet under conditions that are 
not ideal. Should we have the conditions we desire, it 
might not be necessary to do this, because the inspections 
of cattle and milk would be so thorough that there would 
be less possibility of contagion of tuberculosis or other 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 17 

disease; the care of dairies, farms, etc., would be so 
rigidly guarded by the inspectors that they could not pos- 
sibly be infected by excreta and other causes that bring 
danger to the infant. Again, city laws would be so care- 
fully administered that all venders of milk would be pre- 
vented from adding impure water and preservatives to 
the milk that reaches the child as its food. I mention 
impure water because, if they added pure water and al- 
lowed it to be known, it would save others the trouble 
of adding it to correct the excess of cheese that is, in all 
cow's milk, the stumbling-block in an infant's food. 

Failing all of these, the application of heat is still the 
mother's only safeguard when she wants to protect her 
child from impure or uncertified milk ; but she must not 
overlook the fact that she is adding dangers of another 
character, which, however, she can meet by consultation 
with a careful physician, or by studying for herself how 
to supply what is lost by this process of heating milk, 
and replacing it with other foods. 

Points to Remember. — A few cardinal points to re- 
member in the care of milk for use in the nursery are 
these: Never leave milk uncovered; keep it in as cool 
a place as possible ; get certified milk wherever it can be 
had, in place of the ordinary commercial milk ; but heat 
any kind immediately on receipt, if you realize that you 
can not control the conditions alluded to above. 

Apparatus for Heating Milk. — Taking it for granted 
that, under some circumstances, milk may not be so well 
cared for as to be free from dangerous bacteria, nor that 
cows are known by test to be free from tuberculosis, it 
is advisable to know how to apply heat to milk, if it must 
be used under such conditions. There are a number of 
contrivances in the market for this purpose. A tem- 
perature must be reached that is sufficiently high to kill 
those developed bacteria which would be of any harm 
to the digestion of an infant, and, at the same time, it 
must be low enough to prevent the changes that are 



18 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

acknowledged by nearly all physicians to be undesirable 
in an infant's food — changes that are caused by the tem- 
perature formerly advised for destruction of germs ex- 
isting in milk, namely, two hundred and twelve degrees 
Fahrenheit. The temperature of one hundred and fifty- 
five degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes, which is ad- 
vised by Doctor Tweddell, allows the milk to remain prac- 
tically fresh and uncooked, yet still be sufficiently ster- 
ile. * In some cases the higher degree of two hundred 
and twelve must be used ; as, for instance, in cases of 
journey, where the milk must, for unavoidable reasons, 
be kept for a period longer than twenty-four hours ; but, 
for ordinary usage, this temperature need not be consid- 
ered except under physicans' advice. In cases of sum- 
mer complaint in early infancy, the higher temperature is 
sometimes desirable, and recommended by physicians. 

The degree of one hundred and fifty-five Fahrenheit 
for thirty minutes may be applied to the entire mixture 
of ingredients called for under formulae given by various 
physicians, including lime-water, which is always changed 
with a higher temperature. 

The various devices offered for the application of an 
exact degree of heat to milk are well known. The pas- 
teurizer designed by Doctor Rowland Godfrey Freeman,f 
of New York, who prepared the formulae used at the 
famous milk booths, supported for the benefit of chil- 
dren by Nathan Strauss, has been made with a view of 
carrying out requirements to an exact point without the 
use of a thermometer or any detail that may be a burden 
to the caretaker. 

Exact directions are given with each of these devices, 
and any one of them may readily be procured at any 
drug-store. 

* Doctor Charles Gilmore Kerley advises 167 degrees Fahren- 
heit for thirty minutes, in Practice of Pediatrics. Doctor Clifford 
G. Gurlee advises, in Infant Feeding, 140 to 150 degrees for 
thirty minutes. 

t Doctor Freeman advises 140 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 19 

By direction of the Secretary of Agriculture of the 
United States Government a circular has been issued 
showing how a proper degree of heat may be applied to 
milk in a very easy manner. This circular may be had 
free on application to the Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. Should it be impossible to secure 
any apparatus suitable for the purpose, try some means 
with ordinary kitchen utensils by which the inner vessel 
holding the milk to be heated may be half an inch from 
the bottom of the outer vessel holding hot water, and allow 
the hot water to reach at least half as high as the milk 
does in the inner vessel. Cook for half an hour in this 
way, and cool very quickly. Only a fair degree of safety 
may be thus assured when milk is doubtful, but it is in- 
finitely better than to take chances by not heating at all, 
when milk is suspected of contamination. 

Care of Nipples. — The care of bottles, nipples, etc., 
is naturally an important part in infants' feeding. Smooth 
seamless nipples are preferable to those that are seamed, 
as they are easily cleaned and do not collapse. When 
cleaned and dried they should be kept in a covered box 
or dish, or wrapped up in a clean napkin, and just before 
using one it should be dipped in boiling water. This lat- 
ter point must not be omitted. The usual plan is to keep 
them in a tumbler of water containing soda, which is 
rarely satisfactory. Experience has shown the above 
plan to be the preferable one. The writer once discov- 
ered a supposedly careful monthly nurse not turning the 
nipples when washing them, and her given reason for not 
doing so was that she thought is was not really necessary. 
The child she nursed was made ill by this carelessness, 
which was a result that might readily have been expected. 

Care of Bottles. — Milk-bottles can be thoroughly 
cleaned by rinsing first with cold water, then washing 
with hot soapsuds and a bottle-brush that is clean. The 
brush requires as much care as the bottles, a fact that 
is sometimes overlooked. Rinse the bottles, both inside 



20 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

and out, in an abundance of flowing clean water, prefer- 
ably under the cold-water faucet, and examine each bot- 
tle carefully to see that there is no cloudiness or speck of 
milk remaining. They may then be placed in the rack 
and set in a moderately hot oven for an hour, when they 
will be sterile and ready for use. They may also be put 
over a fire in a boiler filled with cold water, to boil for 
half an hour, when they should be carefully drained and 
kept free from dust. Experiment will show that the oven 
method is preferable, as the bottles are dry and ready to 
be put away when removed from the oven. Gare should 
be taken to cool the oven slightly by opening the door a 
few minutes before removing the hot bottles. This will 
prevent the cracking that might result upon sudden ex- 
posure to the colder air of the room. 

Care of Unwashed Empty Bottles. — After an infant 
has been fed, the empty or half-empty bottle of milk 
should not be allowed to stand for any length of time. It 
should be emptied directly, or as soon as possible, and be 
rinsed with cold water. It may then await a convenient 
time for washing the entire number used that day. A 
careful nursery-maid will, however, wash and heat the 
bottles as fast as they are emptied, which is decidedly the 
best plan. Physicians and fathers know, if no one else 
does, how frequently the presence of a baby in the house 
insures the appearance at all times and in all places of 
half -empty or unclean-looking milk-bottles, which un- 
doubtedly cause much of the illness usually ascribed either 
to the visitation of Providence or to a supposedly impure 
supply of milk. Careful observation will convince many 
that not one cause alone is the source of evils met with 
constantly in infant feeding. 

Intervals. — The intervals in substitute feeding must 
be carefully considered. Doctor Rotch's* table for inter- 
vals is as follows : 

* Thomas Morgan Rotch, M. D., author of Pediatrics, and late 
Professor of Diseases of Children at Harvard University. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 



21 



GENERAL RULES FOR SUBSTITUTE FEEDING DURING THE 
FIRST YEAR 



The day feedings are supposed to begin with the 6 a. m. feeding 
and to end with the 10 p. m. feeding. 


Age. 




^ d 

°'tn • 

<u G 3 


E tie Si 


Amount at 

each 
Feeding. 


Total Amount 
in 24 Hours. 


1 week . . 

2 weeks . . 
4 weeks . . 
6 weeks. . 
8 weeks . . 
8 months . 

4 months . 

5 months . 

6 months . 

7 months . 

8 months . 

9 months . 

10 months . 

11 months . 

12 months . 






2 
2 

2 

2% 

2* 

2% 

2V4 

3 

S 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 


10 
10 

9 
8 
8 
7 
7 
6 
6 
6 
6 
6 
5 
5 
5 


i 
i 
i 
i 














c. c. 
30 
45 
75 
90 
100 
120 
135 
165 
175 
190 
210 
210 
255 
265 
270 


oz. 
1 

iy. 

2K 
3 

354 
4 

5y 3 

5M 
6& 
7 
7 

9 


c. c. 
300 
450 
675 
720 
840 
840 
945 
990 
1035 
1125 
1260 
1260 
1275 
1312 
1350 


oz. 

10 

15 

1* 

28 

28 

81*4 

33 

34 VJ 

37^ 

42 

42 

42 K 

4S& 

45 



The above table is given as a safe average to begin 
with. Doctor Rotch says it is so important to avoid 
stretching an organ so easily distensible as the stomach 
that it is wiser to give too little rather than too much 
food in the early days of an infant's life. An unusually 
heavy child might require a little more; for instance, a 
child weighing ten pounds at birth would, according to 
tables regulated by weight, require one and one-half 
ounces instead of one ounce at a feeding, if in a healthy 
condition ; but this the attending physician should deter- 
mine. He advises the use of a set of graduated feeding- 
tubes during the more important periods of growth, for 
the purpose of continually impressing upon the mother 
and nurse what the physician often has the opportunity 
of telling them only at the beginning of the nursing pe- 
riod — namely, that the error is in giving too much food 



22 



DIET FOR CHILDREN 



rather than too little. This error naturally results when, 
as is commonly the case, the usual eight-ounce nursing- 
bottle is used at the very beginning of infantile life. 
He says he has found that he can easily convince most 




A 






CD 




A 




<£i 



00 



mothers of the mistaken zeal of nurses who advocate giv- 
ing the young infant large amounts of food, by showing 
them the size of the infant's stomach at birth (A), and 
then comparing a small tube (B), which corresponds to 
the stomach's capacity, with an eight-ounce nursing- 
bottle. 



iL WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 23 

If my readers still think that they can decide for them- 
selves upon "what to feed the baby," it is to be hoped 
that they will bear in mind the following facts : that it is 
at all times advisable (1) to use certified milk or heat 
other milk to one hundred and fifty-five degrees Fahren- 
heit for thirty minutes; (2) to dilute milk with boiled 

B 



water for the first nine or ten months of an infant's life, 
beginning with at least half water to half milk for an 
infant one month old; (3) to add cream that is perfectly 
sweet to each bottle of diluted milk in order to supply the 
fat lost by dilution; (4) to add milk-sugar and a little 
lime-water, according to some reputable physician's for- 
mula, or that of a milk-laboratory, and (5) to add care- 



24 DIET FOR CHILDREN 




fully prepared cereal foods very gradually at the proper 
time, as advised by the family physician. 

MENUS 

Cereals. — Cereals are a necessary food for growing 
children. They promote fine muscular development. As 
starch is the predominant constituent, it is evident that 
great care must be exercised in cooking the various grains 
allowable in the nursery, remembering also that long 
cooking increases digestibility. It is important to know 
what you want to accomplish when cooking cereals. All 
starchy foods should be cooked long enough to be put in 
a condition to be easily acted upon by the digestive juices. 
The purpose in preparing them is to secure the bursting 
of the granules and the liberation of the starch by the 
highest temperature it is possible to reach in order that 
it may be acted upon by the heat and be partially changed 
into a substance called dextrine, which is easily digested. 
An extremely high and prolonged temperature is required 
for this change, without which cereals are not nutritious, 
and are likely to cause digestive troubles. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 25 

Need of Varied Menus. — One of the greatest dif- 
ficulties experienced in feeding during nursery and school 
age is in the provision of sufficiently varied menus. Con- 
stant repetition of any food causes indifference, no mat- 
ter how much it may have been enjoyed at first. The 
illustrative menus given hereafter are suggestive only, 
and they may be interchanged to suit the general house 
supply, vegetables to be used according to season, and 
care to be given to combinations, as, for instance, the use 
of but one starch food in a menu, etc. One food of each 
class is usually sufficient to constitute a satisfactory meal. 

Quantities to Allow. — It will be noticed that quan- 
tities are mentioned at times when certain foods are to 
be limited at each meal, leaving the others to be taken 
according to the appetite of each child. If a child is 
accustomed to regular simple meals, its appetite may be 
trusted to regulate amounts. If, on the contrary, it has 
been fed "a little of everything," and has been allowed 
to eat candy, etc., between meals, this point must be care- 
fully considered, and an effort must be made to bring 
back the child to simple tastes and regular habits, by omit- 
ting the foods forbidden for children and by giving no 
food between meals. The amounts indicated should vary 
in accordance with the age, weight and condition of the 
child. It is evident that an active child needs more 
than one who is passive. The safest rule to follow is to 
give, as far as possible, a single representative of each 
class of food at each meal ; to give little meat and sugar, 
and to complete the quantity required for each meal with 
broths, starchy vegetables, and either green vegetables or 
fruits. When constructing a menu for a child, keep con- 
stantly in view the proportions required of the various 
classes of foods. 

All the dishes indicated in the following menus may 
be easily prepared by any one understanding the prin- 
ciples of cooking, if care be given to the dainty prepa- 



26 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

ration of the articles called for, and if scrupulous clean- 
liness (one of the most important factors in nursery 
cooking) be observed. 

If we want our children to be strong, we must use ani- 
mal food as an important part of their diet, in the form 
of milk, eggs and meat soup for younger children, and in 
that of eggs, fresh meats, etc., for those who are older. 
In selecting menus, macaroni and spaghetti should be 
more relied on for variety than is usual after a child is 
five years old. 

Doctor Thompson's Rules for Feeding Young Chil- 
dren, Given in "Practical Dietetics," are concise and 
comprehensive, as may be seen from the following: 

1. Allow time for meals. 

2. See that the food is thoroughly masticated. 

3. Do not allow nibbling between meals. 

4. Do not tempt the child with the sight of rich and 
indigestible foods. 

5. Do not force the child to eat against its will, but 
examine the mouth, which may be sore from erupting 
teeth, and examine the food, which may not be properly 
cooked or flavored. If good food is refused from pee- 
vishness merely, remove it, and do not offer it again be- 
fore the next mealtime. 

6. In acute illness, reduce and dilute the food at once. 

7. In very hot weather, give about one-fourth or one- 
third less food, and offer more water. 

Doctor Rotch's Suggestions for Feeding a Twelve 
Months Old Child. (From How to Feed Children.) — 
Between the twelfth and thirteenth months, Doctor Rotch 
is in the habit of giving the infant five meals during the 
day. At this time it is well to accustom it to take its 
food from a spoon, and as soon as possible to omit feed- 
ing from the bottle. The five meals should be arranged 
in the following manner : 

"For breakfast, bread and cow's milk, slightly warmed. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 27 

"For lunch, equal parts of oat jelly and cow's milk, 
warmed, with a little salt added, according to the infant's 
taste. 

"This meal of oat jelly should be repeated in the mid- 
dle of the afternoon. 

"In the middle of the day, broth of some kind, either 
chicken or mutton, carefully prepared so as to be free 
from fat on its surface, can be given with some bread. 

"The fifth meal should be given in the latter part of 
the afternoon, and should consist of bread and milk. 

"In some cases it is impossible to make infants swal- 
low bread for a long period after the usual time of twelve 
to thirteen months. At times it is not until they are two 
and one-half to three years old that they can be induced 
to take bread. In these cases we must feed them accord- 
ing to our judgment of the individual case. 

"When the infant is fourteen to fifteen months old, 
some thoroughly boiled rice can be added to the broth in 
the middle of the day, and if it digests this well it can 
also have bread given with this meal. 

"When the infant is sixteen months old, it can have a 
small amount of butter on its bread. When it is seven- 
teen to eighteen months old, it can have a thoroughly 
baked white potato, mixed with butter and salt, added to 
its mid-day meal of broth. When it is nineteen to twenty 
months old, eggs can become part of its diet. 

"There are not many fruits which should be given to 
the infant in its second year. A baked apple can be given 
at the evening meal when the infant is fourteen to fifteen 
months old ; or, for variety, the apple can be made into 
a simple sauce, never, however, having the sauce made 
with much sugar. When peaches are in season, a ripe 
peach can often be given with benefit, especially if the 
infant is inclined to be constipated. Other fruits should 
be avoided, as they are not necessary for the infant's 
nutrition, and at times produce serious trouble." 



28 DIET FOR CHILDREN 



Classification of Menus 

The following menus are constructed upon this base, 
suggested by Doctor Rotch, and explanatory notes are 
introduced where it seems advisable. The hours for the 
five meals from twelve months may be arranged, as most 
convenient for the average household, as follows : 

Twelve to Thirteen Months 

7 a. m. Early breakfast — a breakfast-cupful or a six- 
ounce bottle of warm milk ; a piece of bread. 

9:30 a. m. Breakfast proper — two tablespoon fuls of 
oat jelly with the same quantity of milk, seasoned with 
a little salt. 

12:30 p. m. Dinner — a cupful of chicken broth with 
stale bread-crumbs ; one tablespoonf ul of gelatin, flavored 
with orange juice. 

3 :30 p. m. Repeat meal given at 9 :30. 

6:30 p. m. Supper — one-day-old bread broken in 
warm milk (six ounces). 

Supper at half past six gives time for the child to have 
a few minutes' rest before going to sleep at seven. The 
child should be dressed for the night before receiving this 
meal, that unnecessary handling on a full stomach may 
be avoided. Half past six is the time frequently advised 
for the first meal in the morning, but, by judicious train- 
ing as to sleep, seven o'clock will be found early enough, 
and if the habit of sleep is once fixed a child will not 
wake before this time, thus giving many mothers without 
nurses the opportunity for sparing their strength a little 
in the early morning. 

First Morning Meal from the Bottle. — It is also of 
great assistance under some circumstances to give the 
first meal from the bottle for a longer period than twelve 



L WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 29 

months, as at this early hour much carelessness may be 
expected from ordinary servants in the handling of 
baby's food, and unless there is a reliable nurse the 
mother must usually rise very much earlier than is nec- 
essary for other demands. The plan of having a bottle 
ready for warming at seven o'clock in the morning will 
obviate many sources of trouble that are usually met 
with, and, while not the ideal plan, it is practically much 
better than to allow servants an opportunity for careless 
handling of baby's first meal for the day, which may 
readily change the tenor of that entire day's atmosphere. 
A Convenient Daily Routine. — Breakfast at nine- 
thirty for baby gives the mother time to take her own 
comfortably, to bathe her child at nine and feed it at half 
past, after which it should sleep an hour or more, and 
then be taken out for a while before dinner at twelve- 
thirty. It may be taken out for an hour again after din- 
ner, from which time it will be likely to sleep until its 
next meal at half past three. From this time it should 
be kept awake until it is ready to be put to sleep for the 
night at seven, after being undressed and fed at half 
past six. Doctor Samuel Adams, of Washington, says: 
"A young infant has nothing to do but eat and sleep. As 
soon as he is fed he will take a nap, and will probably 
sleep for an hour and a half. After the first year the 
naps become shorter and less frequent. During the sec- 
ond year a nap in the morning after breakfast, and one 
in the afternoon about one or two o'clock for an hour 
or an hour and a half, are usually sufficient, and these 
naps should be insisted upon for the rest of his mind and 
body and to enhance his growth and health. When the 
child reaches the third year he can usually drop the morn- 
ing nap. The afternoon one should be insisted upon very 
soon after the child has his noonday meal, in winter as 
well as in summer." Some physicians advise a night 
feeding at ten or eleven, to be given until eighteen months. 



30 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

If so, the food may be given from a bottle without dis- 
turbing the child's sleep by keeping to the same hour ex- 
actly and gently touching the lips of the child with the 
tip, lifting the pillow carefully at the same time. A child 
who is well is usually so sleepy that it will take the milk 
very readily without opening its eyes. At this time any 
necessary changes for the night may also be made, to 
avoid further chance of disturbance. Regularity in this 
method is certain to bring eventual success. If, during 
this early period of feeding, great care is given to the 
little points that appear to many to be trifling at the time, 
a fixed habit of sound sleep from seven to seven may be 
formed that will prove one of the greatest blessings con- 
ferred on a child by a wise mother. 



Alternating Menu for the Same Period — i. e.,^ 
Twelve to Thirteen Months 

7 a. m. Six-ounce bottle of warm milk, with a piece of 
crust from French bread or a biscuit. 

9 :30 a. m. One small cup of fresh sweet milk (heated 
to one hundred and forty-five degrees Fahrenheit) . Two 
tablespoon fuls of well-cooked oatmeal gruel served with 
two tablespoonfuls of fresh cream, also heated. 

12 :30 p. m. One-half pint of mutton broth with stale 
bread-crumbs. Two tablespoonfuls of junket, made with 
Fairchild's essence of pepsin. 

3 :30 p. m. A breakfast-cupful or an eight-ounce bot- 
tle of milk and gelatin. Dissolve a teaspoonful of gelatin 
in a little of the cold milk, and add to the remainder 
when it is warm, taking care to keep the mixture well 
covered when dissolving. 

6:30 p. m. A breakfast-cupful of warm milk and a 
piece of bread or a biscuit, or, if the bottle is still used, 
a six-ounce bottle of warm milk, with bread or biscuit. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 31 



Fourteen to Fifteen Months 

7 a. m. One slice of bread and eight ounces of milk, 
given in cup or bottle. 

9 :30 a. m. One cup of barley jelly and milk, half and 
half, salted. 

12:30 p. m. One slice of bread, one-half pint of 
chicken broth, with a tablespoon ful of well-boiled rice 
added. 

3 :30 p. m. Repeat meal given at 9 :30. 

6 :30 p. m. Eight ounces of warm milk and a Graham 
biscuit. 

Alternating Menu for the Same Period — i. e., 
Fourteen to Fifteen Months 

7 a. m. Bread and milk (eight ounces). 

9 :30 a. m. One tablespoonf ul of gluten porridge served 
with top milk. 

12 :30 p. m. One cup of chicken jelly made with milk. 
A piece of crust of bread. 

3 :30 p. m. One cup of oat jelly and top milk, half and 
half, as directed before. 

6 :30 p. m. Six ounces of milk, the soft part of a baked 
apple, a biscuit, or a piece of zwieback. 

At sixteen months add a little good butter to the bread 
given. (Rotch.) 

After the fifteenth month two to six teaspoonfuls of 
orange juice may be given, or a baked or stewed apple. 

Seventeen to Eighteen Months 

7 a. m. One piece of bread and butter and a cup of 
milk. 



32 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

9 :30 a. m. One cup of oat jelly and top milk, half and 
half. 

12 :30 p. m. One cup of chicken broth, bread and but- 
ter, and a baked potato mixed with a little butter or 
cream, and salt. A tablespoon ful of juice from a sweet 
orange. 

3 :30 p. m. One piece of zwieback and a cup of sweet 
milk. 

6 :30 p. m. Eight ounces of milk and bread and butter. 

Alternating Menu from Seventeen to Eighteen Months 

7 a. m. Graham bread and butter and a cup of warm 
milk. 

9 :30 a. m. One tablespoonf ul of well-cooked wheatena 
served with a few tablespoonfuls of sweet cream, taken 
from morning's milk and heated to one hundred and 
fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit. One piece of breadcrust 
or zwieback. 

12 :30 p. m. One-half pint of mutton broth, two table- 
spoonfuls of boiled rice. Bread and butter. 

3 :30 p. m. One cup of milk jelly and a biscuit. 

6:30 p. m. Two Graham biscuits or bread, if pre- 
ferred, broken into eight ounces of warm milk. 

Nineteen to Twenty Months 

7 a. m. A cup of milk and bread and butter. 

9 :30 a. m. Two tablespoonfuls of wheat porridge with 
cream, a small glass of milk, bread and butter, one table- 
spoonful of clarified apple (page 128). 

12:30 p. m. A milky, soft-boiled egg (page 105) with 
stale bread-crumbs, bread and butter, one tablespoonful 
of boiled rice, one or two tablespoonfuls of fruit gelatin 
(page 135). 

3 :30 p. m. A saucer of junket, bread and butter. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 33 

6:30 p. m. Two pieces of toasted bread broken into 
four ounces of hot salted milk ; a glass of milk to drink. 

Alternating Menu from Nineteen to Twenty Months 

7 a. m. Bread, butter and milk. 

9:30 a. m. Two tablespoon fuls of breakfast hominy 
with salt and cream, a glass of milk, bread and butter. 
A pared ripe peach, if in season, or a tablespoonful of 
scraped ripe apple. 

12:30 p. m. One cup of beef broth, with crumbs of 
zwieback broken into it, a baked potato, two tablespoon- 
fuls of tapioca (page 126). 

3 :30 p. m. A saucer of oatmeal jelly (page 97) with 
a little salt and cream. 

6 :30 p. m. Bread and milk. 

From Twenty to Thirty Months 

From twenty to thirty months use the foods indicated 
so far, varying the menus by interchanging with any sim- 
ilar articles, the recipes for which are given elsewhere. 

This is a sufficient diet for this period, and it is worse 
than folly for mothers to attempt at this early age, as is 
frequently done, to accustom their children to the use 
of everything and anything from the general table. There 
are many persons, again, who will follow a cautious 
course in nursery feeding to a certain point, and then 
undo all by a fitful lapse into carelessness. The remarks 
made in this connection should be emphasized if the in- 
fant's digestion and general nutrition are to be consid- 
ered, and the parents should insist that no other articles 
of food be employed except such as are similar to those 
spoken of, according to the taste, judgment and knowl- 
edge of cooking that exists in the special household. 



34 DIET FOR CHILDREN 



Food After Thirty Months 

"At this time it will be well to begin to accustom the 
child's digestive functions to a still greater variety of 
food. In summer, the more easily digestible vegetables, 
such as squash, young peas, young beans and asparagus 
tips, can be given. The variety of fruits can also be in- 
creased at this period, but they should be cooked. The 
principal change which is to be made in the diet to which 
the infant has been accustomed is a very decided increase 
in the proportion of the proteid element of its food. This 
is accomplished by means of giving the child meat. The 
quantity of meat which should be given toward the end 
of the third year should be small at first, and should be 
given at intervals of a day or two. Doctor Wiley says 
that meat as a regular article of diet for each day is not, 
as a rule, desirable until the child is five years old, with 
the exception of a little white chicken meat once or twice 
a week. The kinds of meat which should be given in 
this early period of childhood are chicken, mutton-chop, 
roast beef, and beefsteak. These meats should be cut 
into small pieces, and a little salt added, according to the 
child's taste. It is well, during the latter part of the third 
year and the first part of the fourth year, to give the child 
an egg on one day and meat on the next if it is decided 
to give meat before the fifth year, using a little white 
chicken meat once or twice a week as the alternative to 
the egg. 

"When the child has reached the age of five or six 
years, we should allow it to have a somewhat more va- 
ried diet, but during the whole period of childhood the 
closest attention should be given to the regulation of the 
kind and the amount of food to be given, and any devi- 
ations from the rules just laid down are to be deprecated. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 35 

"It should be particularly noted that meat is not given 
until after thirty months, — and eggs are withheld until 
the child is nineteen or twenty months old." — From How 
to Feed Children. 

Dinner Menus Allowable After Thirty Months 

Beef broth with vermicelli ; bran or whole-meal bread, 
and the best butter obtainable ; lightly broiled lamb-chop, 
scraped and seasoned with salt; spinach boiled tender 
and mashed through a puree sieve, served plain with 
cream or in broth ; baked potato with salt ; orange tapioca 
for dessert, and a fruit juice made as directed, and used 
as a drink. 

1. Chicken broth with rice; minced broiled tenderloin 
steak with salt (no butter) ; boiled rice ; brown bread 
with butter; asparagus tips or stewed celery, with hot 
cream as sauce; cup custard for dessert, with cocoa to 
drink. 

2. Mutton broth; the white meat of chicken cut into 
very small pieces ; baked potato ; spinach ; bread and but- 
ter ; orange float for dessert. 

3. Beef tea; stewed squab; boiled or steamed rice; 
bread and butter; Bermuda onions, stewed very soft in 
milk ; junket with egg for dessert. 

4. Milk soup ; roast beef rare and minced ; boiled rice 
with dish gravy from roast beef ; spinach or stewed cel- 
ery ; bread and butter ; cup custard for dessert. 

5. Strained vegetable soup; scraped broiled mutton- 
chop, rejecting all fat ; baked potato ; apple sauce ; bread 
and butter ; junket, made with Fairchild's essence of pep- 
sin, for dessert. 

6. Beef broth ; boiled or broiled fish ; boiled spaghetti 
with milk; boiled asparagus tips; gelatin with whipped 
cream for dessert. 



36 DIET FOR CHILDREN 



A Week's Menus for Children Over Five Years Old 

Use amounts according to the age and appetite of the 
child, and in the proportions given. 

Sunday 

Breakfast. — One ripe apple, pared, quartered and care- 
fully cored. Two tablespoonfuls of well-cooked and 
well-selected oatmeal, served with sweet cream and a 
pinch of salt. A cup of weak cocoa. Bread and good 
butter. A soft-boiled egg. 

Dinner. — From twelve to one o'clock. Half a cup of 
beef broth. Bread and butter. One lamb-chop, lightly- 
broiled and cut in small pieces, or a piece of roast beef 
or mutton, with dish gravy. One quickly baked potato, 
broken with a fork, eaten with salt and cream. Two 
tablespoonfuls of boiled spinach, mashed through a 
puree sieve. Stewed apples and a lady-finger for dessert. 

Supper. — Five to five-thirty o'clock. Milk toast; one- 
half pint of hot milk seasoned with salt and butter for 
three or four pieces of toast. A few stewed figs. Cocoa 
to drink. 

Monday 

Breakfast. — Breakfast hominy and cream. Bread and 
butter. A sweet orange. A bit of broiled fish. 

Dinner. — One-half cup of mutton broth. Broiled, 
finely chopped steak, one large spoonful, or one lamb- 
chop, lightly broiled. Boiled rice, as much as wanted. 
Stewed celery with cream sauce. Gelatin, flavored with 
chocolate or vanilla, for dessert. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 37 

Supper. — Milk biscuit, broken in hot milk. Bread and 
butter. Stewed fruit. 

Tuesday 

Breakfast. — Two tablespoon fuls of cracked wheat and 
cream. One poached egg, lightly done. Brown bread 
and butter. A few dates or an apple. 

Dinner. — Half a cup of beef broth, made from the 
chopped steak and celery bits of the day before. A slice 
of roast beef with dish gravy. Macaroni, boiled in salted 
water, cream to be added for sauce. Two tablespoonfuls 
of stewed tomatoes, stewed long enough to be put 
through an agate or porcelain colander. Orange float 
for dessert (soft cup custard poured over oranges that 
have been carefully freed from pith). 

Supper. — Bread, butter, milk to drink, and stewed 
apples, flavored with cinnamon or orange. 

Wednesday 

Breakfast. — Oatmeal and cream. Dry toast, with cold, 
not melted, butter. A little stewed potato. A small glass 
of milk or a cup of cocoa. A bit of broiled fish. A 
sweet orange. 

Dinner. — Half a cup of chicken soup. One broiled 
lamb-chop. Bread and butter. Stewed onions with cream 
sauce. One baked sweet potato. (Onions have no sugar, 
hence sweet potato.) Plain or apple tapioca pudding. 
As sweet potato has not so much starch as white, tapioca 
(starch) may be used for dessert. 

Supper. — Sweet buns or plain rolls, broken up in hot 
milk, with a light sprinkling of sugar or salt according to 
which food is used. A dish of stewed prunes, or a glass 
of prune juice. A slice of Graham bread and butter. 



38 DIET FOR CHILDREN 



Thursday 

Breakfast.— -Two tablespoon fuls of hominy with cream 
(half a cup). One scrambled egg, with bread and but- 
ter. One apple. Cup of weak cocoa, three-quarters 
milk. 

^Dinner. — One cup of beef broth. Bread and butter. 
Spaghetti and milk. Broiled sweetbreads. Stewed cel- 
ery. Small saucer of rice pudding. 

Supper. — Bread, butter and good molasses or sirup, 
carefully selected, with as much milk as is wanted. 

Friday 

- Breakfast. — A saucer of boiled rice, with cream and 
salt. Bread and butter. A bit of crisp, fat breakfast 
bacon. Bacon supplies lack of fat in rice. Stewed pota- 
toes. An orange that is sweet. 

Dinner. — One cup of beef broth seasoned with celery 
broth of the day before. Well broiled, boiled or baked 
fish having white meat. Baked white potato. One table- 
spoonful of stewed cauliflower with cream as sauce. Cup 
custard made wifh one egg and flavored with cinnamon. 

Supper. — Zwieback, stewed figs, bread, butter and as 
much milk as is wanted. 

Saturday 

Breakfast. — Cracked wheat and cream. Cup of cocoa. 
Soft-boiled egg, lightly boiled. Bread and butter and a 
few figs or dates, or, for a younger child, an orange that 
is sweet. 

Dinner. — Half a cup of mutton broth with rice added 
(one tablespoon ful) . A tablespoonful of the .white meat 
of chicken or a tender wing. Small saucer of apple sauce. 
Macaroni. Bread and butter. A small cup of junket and 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 39 

one or two lady-fingers, or a sweet bun one day old, for 
dessert. 

Supper. — Bread, butter and honey, milk, and a small 
piece of one-day-old Moravian cake, made according to 
recipe given, or a piece of home-made sponge-cake, gin- 
gerbread, or similar simple cake. 

Suggestions for Breakfast in Summer for Chil- 
dren from Three to Five 

One only of the following articles, with cream and salt : 
Cracked wheat, rice, tapioca, breakfast hominy, gluten 
(containing little or no fat). 

One only of the following articles: Eggs boiled (cov- 
ered with boiling water as directed on page 106) ; poached 
in salted water that does not boil; scrambled (lightly) ; 
omelet (eggs not to be separated for beating). For a 
small omelet use one tablespoonful of hot water to one 
egg instead of milk, as customary, beat about a dozen 
times with a fork and cook quickly ; the result will be a 
deliciously tender omelet. Broiled fish. Broiled bacon. 
Asparagus tops may be given' frequently with any of the 
above articles. 

One only of the following articles: Stewed rhubarb 
(laxative), orange or lemon jelly (made with gelatin), 
strawberries (carefully given, noting effect), baked apple, 
gelatin pudding or calf's-foot jelly, etc. 

Summer Dinner Menus from Three to Five Years 

'.. '.lv- Beef- broth. Broiled fish. Baked potato. Spinach 
puree. A' ripe sweet orange for dessert. Bread and 
butter. 

2. Vegetable omelet made with chopped asparagus tips 
that have been previously boiled tender ; or, if preferred, 
a plain omelet and the asparagus served alone, with or 



40 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

without cream sauce. A small cup of a good digestible 
cocoa with educator biscuit for dessert. 

3. Chop (lamb) broiled. Boiled rice, served with 
cream and salt. Bread, butter and honey. Glass of milk 
if desired. In place of honey, fruit juice may be used. 

4. Mutton broth with barley. Boiled tgg. Asparagus 
tips with salt, or stewed onion with cream sauce. A cup 
of junket or a cup of custard. Bread and butter. 

5. Broiled beef pulp. Spaghetti with cream sauce, 
the sauce to be made with good butter, cream or milk, 
and flour. Four or five large prunes, stewed or simply 
freshened by soaking overnight in cold water, after wash- 
ing well, may be given for dessert. Children who will 
not eat stewed prunes, or who have grown tired of them, 
will sometimes welcome the above change. 

6. Puree of onion with beef broth, served either to- 
gether or alone. Farina, cooked with salt and served 
with cream. Strawberry gelatin for dessert, using the 
clear juice only for flavoring. Bread and butter. 

7. Poached eggs served on well-made toast. Cauli- 
flower tops, if tender, or a dish of apple sauce. A saucer 
of rice pudding flavored with cinnamon. The use of 
cauliflower and onion should be deferred to the latter 
part of this period of feeding, and results should be 
watched very carefully. 

Breakfast Combinations for Winter — Designed 
to Supply Heat 

Amounts to vary according to the age of the child; break- 
fast meats may be omitted for children under seven. 
Meat at dinner is sufficient at the age of five. 
White grapes; oatmeal and cream; boiled eggs; bread 

and butter ; warm milk or cocoa to drink. 

Stewed apples; cracked wheat and cream; crust muf- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 41 

fins ; broiled fat bacon ; stewed potatoes ; mixed milk and 
cream to drink. 

A ripe apple; cornmeal mush and cream; stewed or 
broiled chicken ; baked potatoes ; glass of milk ; buttered 
toast. 

Tokay grapes; cream or top milk to drink; broiled 
mutton-chop ; hominy with salt ; bread and butter. 

Farina and cream ; broiled steak or creamed fish ; corn- 
meal muffins, good butter ; a sweet orange or ripe apple. 

Clarified apples ; wheatena ; cream ; whole-meal bread 
and butter ; broiled squab ; boiled rice. 

Breakfast Menus for a Child Who Has Reached the 

Age of Five or Six — Designed Particularly to 

Supply Food for Second Dentition 

1. Whole-meal wheat bread and butter; oatmeal por- 
ridge (the whole grain) and cream; stewed potatoes; 
broiled fish ; fruit. 

2. Graham muffins and butter; milk; cornmeal mush 
(the whole grain) and cream ; stewed chicken ; an orange. 

3. Corn bread; porridge made from whole wheat 
ground in a coffee-mill and cooked four hours (the cal- 
careous deposit needed is found in the outside of the 
grains), served with cream; a poached egg; warm milk 
to drink ; a raw apple. 

4. Hominy ; cream ; whole-meal muffins, made accord- 
ing to recipe for cream muffins; baked potato; broiled 
fat bacon ; milk ; stewed fruit or white or Tokay grapes 
(no seeds or skins). 

Dinner menus for this period should be supplied with 
the proteids of foods in proper proportions (meat, game, 
fish, oysters, eggs, milk foods, broths, etc.) and with salt- 
giving foods (fresh vegetables and fruits), and supper 
should always include whole-meal bread, stewed fruits, 
and an abundance of milk. 



42 DIET FOR CHILDREN 



Sample Dinner Menu for Second Dentition 

The following will serve as a sample dinner menu for 
the second dentition period: a cup of beef broth thick- 
ened slightly with oatmeal, or mutton broth with barley ; 
broiled fish, or lamb-chops, with green peas ; boiled rice ; 
creamed macaroni or baked potato ; whole-meal bread 
well toasted and buttered when cool, so that the butter 
will not melt ; orange tapioca for dessert ; cocoa. 

Notice that there are proteids, to form bone for the 
teeth, in nearly every food prescribed, and that neverthe- 
less the salts and the starches are not omitted. The oat- 
meal in the soup contains proteids and salts; the fish, 
phosphates ; the whole-meal bread, proteids and carbohy- 
drates; the butter, fat; the orange, salts; the tapioca, 
starch ; and the peas contain proteids and salts. 

It must not be forgotten that the condition of a child's 
second set of teeth depends very largely on the kind of 
food taken during the years immediately preceding sec- 
ond dentition. 

Summer Diet. — At this season of the year, if at no 
other, should excellence in the preparation of simple 
foods be the rule. A steak or a chop perfectly broiled, 
well-baked bread, pure milk, heated or modified as re- 
quired, carefully selected fruit, vegetables that are well 
chosen and properly prepared, and the avoidance of 
sweets and pastry, will prove potent factors in carrying 
a flock of little ones safely through the hot months of July 
and August. 

Another point to remember at this season is that a child 
is overfed if it can not digest its food. The approach of 
warm weather always brings to the thoughtful mother 
the consciousness of increased care, as this is the season 
requiring the exercise of much forethought in regard to 
the diet of the little ones. This is particularly true in 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 43 

regard to food for older children in the summer-time, a 
trying period for the one who provides — not so much in 
finding variety as in being able to make the proper selec- 
tions from the tempting supply of fresh fruits and vege- 
tables offered, and in discarding the foods that are unsuit- 
able for the hot months. Oatmeal, the reliance of many 
for breakfast in winter, must now be frequently dis- 
carded, as it often proves too heating. It may occasion- 
ally be used, however, in the form of oat jelly, for chil- 
dren who are very fond of oatmeal, as some will not eat 
hominy or wheat. The latter is a perfect summer cereal 
if well cooked, and efforts should be made to teach chil- 
dren to eat it by preparing it in an appetizing manner, 
serving it daintily, etc. 

Summer Breakfasts. — As eggs may be used but two 
or three times a week, the breakfast menu in summer, 
taken altogether, is the first stumbling-block, and one 
likely to give trouble if not considered carefully. Almost 
all children, especially those of a nervous temperament 
or an anemic type, are better for having had a hearty 
breakfast, and one of sufficient variety to tempt the appe- 
tite. If mothers will step out of the beaten track and 
provide dainty dishes that are not looked for at this hour, 
they will be surprised to see how quickly their efforts will 
be appreciated. In season, for children over five, the 
juice of a few sound ripe strawberries, or half a dozen 
large cherries (oxhearts), ripe and thoroughly stewed, 
with dainty slices of well-baked, whole-meal bread and 
butter, and half a dozen asparagus tips that have been 
boiled tender in salted water, with a glass of cold or 
warm beef tea, as preferred, and a spoonful of well- 
boiled and well-seasoned rice, will make a most satisfying 
and appetizing variation from the usual menu of eggs, 
oatmeal, potatoes, etc., and it will be one that a child will 
be sure to enjoy. 

Dainty Service. — Dainty serving is one of the most 



44 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

important adjuncts in nursery feeding. If the fancy of a 
child is pleased, he will, in all probability, eat most heart- 
ily. On a very hot morning I frequently find that I can 
invite sufficient appetite on the part of a child not inclined 
to eat by building engines or toy houses, etc., of small 
pieces of bread, well buttered with cold butter. A little 
lump of butter should be placed on each piece of bread, 
not spread on in the usual nursery style, which, to say the 
least, is not inviting ; a very few crisp bits of fat broiled 
bacon may here and there take the place of butter. This 
may all be put upon a decorated plate to suggest a story 
to the child. I have often seen a delicate child, one of the 
kind who would rather play than eat, take unconsciously 
a satisfactory meal while he was being entertained with 
an interesting story about a dear little cherub on his plate 
who was pictured as eating an apple. I have seen this 
same child drink glass after glass of milk when it was 
served in a wine-glass with a stem, whereas he would 
invariably refuse milk if it was given in a cup or a tum- 
bler, saying he was not hungry. There is a fitness of 
things that must be considered when feeding children, 
and at no time is it more necessary than in summer, when 
the intense heat tries the temper of even adults, who are 
certainly more resistant than children to the various cli- 
matic changes to which we are usually subjected. 

A Cool-Looking Dining-Room. — A cool-looking din- 
ing-room, shaded to rest the eyes, with inviting napery 
and pretty table appointments, flowers, etc., is inseparable 
from comfortable summer life. What could be more 
inviting to the eye, as well as to the appetite, of a fretful 
child who has probably been awakened too early by the 
heat, or who has passed a restless night for the same rea- 
son, than the sight of a prettily laid breakfast table — 
flowers, fruits and some little surprise at his plate to 
charm away his languor ? A dish of cold snow pudding, 
which contains ingredients that are all beneficial for a 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 45 

child (gelatin, eggs, fruit juice, etc.), will work like a 
charm. A glass of milk and a few dainty fingers of 
bread and butter will complete a satisfactory breakfast 
for hot weather. It is well to remember in midsummer- 
time that a light early breakfast is preferable to a heavy 
later one, if it is supplemented by a glass of milk or of 
beef tea, with a few crackers or a piece of zwieback, to 
be given midway between breakfast and dinner. Beef 
broth or cocoa should be given instead of milk to drink, 
when cherries or strawberries are taken at breakfast. 
When cherries are given they must be in perfect condi- 
tion, and results must be carefully noted. Unless stewed 
they are frequently not a safe fruit until after second 
dentition. 

Tapioca is of great value in summer diet. It may be 
used in a variety of ways for any meal in the day, either 
for dinner dessert or for the main portion of the break- 
fast or supper meal. 

During very hot weather meat should be sparingly 
used; broths, eggs, milk and macaroni should take its 
place. Baked potatoes and rice are preferable for starchy 
foods at this season. Rice possesses no fat, and potatoes 
are nearly all water. 

Simple Dinners.— Avoid at all times, but especially 
in summer, the use of sweets that are cloying, over- or 
under-ripe fruit, stale vegetables, and too much meat. 
Carbohydrates (sugars and starches) should be given in 
the proportion of four to one of proteids (meat, eggs, 
etc.) When corn is young and tender, a corn omelet 
with bread and butter and a glass of milk make a satis- 
factory dinner for a hot day. Score the grains of corn 
through the middle, and press out enough pulp to flavor 
an omelet. Use the recipe given on page 39 for a tender 
omelet, putting in the vegetable pulp just before folding, 
as it requires but a few minutes for cooking. Do not 
allow the omelet to get dry. It should be moist and ten- 



46 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

der when served. This is delicious when properly cooked 
and well seasoned. Puree of stewed onions, or a tea- 
spoonful of raw onion juice, or grated onion, or any other 
vegetable allowed in the nursery, may be used instead of 
the corn pulp for making these omelets. This plan of 
only one or two dishes for dinner should not be followed 
continuously. It is suggested for the occasional relief of 
the busy mother who at this season of the year finds her- 
self overtaxed, and she must receive her due share of con- 
sideration in all these matters, as a child's well-being, not 
only physically but mentally, depends on the mother's 
condition. An occasional use of this plan prevents satiety 
also on the part of the child. 

Macaroni or spaghetti, cooked tender first and then 
simmered in beef broth, cream or milk, is a perfect one- 
course dinner for a child over five, and one that is usually 
appreciated. A glass of milk and bread and butter and 
some stewed fruit should be given with it. 

Use of Summer Desserts as Supplementary Foods. 
— Desserts in summer may frequently be supplementary 
foods. By this I mean that eggs, rice, tapioca, milk, etc., 
may be freely used in desserts, and this portion of the 
meal may contain a large share of the nourishment re- 
quired for the entire meal. In this form these ingredients 
are easily digested, and the other part of a menu contain- 
ing one of these desserts need not be so heavy as in cold 
weather, thus somewhat relieving digestion at a time 
when relief is required. 

Summer Suppers. — What to give to the children for 
supper, especially in summer, may seem a trifling matter, 
yet it is really of the utmost importance. A child's rest at 
night depends very largely on what it has had to eat at 
this meal. Two safe rules to follow are, never to give 
a heavy supper, and never, if possible, to give it later than 
five or half past five o'clock, until a child is six years old, 
thus leaving an hour and a half to intervene before it is 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 47 

time for the nightly sponge, which is so refreshing before 
bedtime in hot weather, and which, with a well-selected 
supper, induces sleep in defiance of the heat, however op- 
pressive. I find it is not unusual for mothers to give the 
evening meal to their little ones as late as half past six 
or seven o'clock, in some instances as late as half past 
seven, for their own convenience, and yet they will visit 
physicians regularly and ask advice as to what should be 
done to make their children sleep soundly, complaining 
that they are restless, wakeful, easily disturbed, etc. A 
child who has had a simple and early supper will be 
found, if well, to protest against being disturbed, and will 
want to sleep. It is possible and very desirable to give 
even a baby its ten or eleven o'clock bottle, which should 
be its last feeding for the night, without thoroughly awak- 
ing it, thus encouraging the habit of continuous sleep 
from seven to seven, which, once established, is the great- 
est boon that a tired mother can ask, and one of equal 
benefit to the child. 

Sleeplessness or disturbed sleep in a child either points 
to a faulty regimen or is the forerunner of disease, and 
it invariably needs attention and correction. It is one of 
the safest indications for the mother who is concerned 
as to the condition of her child. 

The old-fashioned bozvl of bread and milk can not be 
improved on for a child's supper, if the milk be sweet 
and the bread well baked and made of good flour. Gra- 
ham biscuit in place of the bread, with clarified apples 
made according to the recipe given, is another simple yet 
desirable summer menu. An occasional dish of rice and 
milk or a baked potato is frequently suggested, and may 
be admissible, but it is much wiser in hot weather to re- 
serve rice for breakfast — to be used instead of the more 
heating cereals — and baked potatoes for dinner. With 
well-cooked rice or wheat for breakfast, potato, macaroni 
or spaghetti for dinner, and the occasional use of farina 



48 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

or tapioca, the matter of starchy foods in summer should 
be pretty well covered, leaving supper menus to be sup- 
plied with dishes that are more simple and more certain 
of not disturbing a night's rest. 

How to Use Fruit.— The use of stewed fruit is to be 
advocated for all times and all seasons of the year, after 
two and one-half years ; and if fruit at all be given at the 
evening meal it should be cooked. Fresh fruit should 
never be given to children after dinner. I have fre- 
quently heard this question discussed, and many mothers 
are in favor of giving it later in the day ; but I can not 
alter my opinion that fresh fruit should not be given to 
very young children later than at the one o'clock dinner. 
There is no necessity, at any rate, for doing so, as any 
child, if treated wisely, will care far more for his bread 
and milk or Graham biscuit and milk than for all the 
fruit you may offer him. I frequently find that even the 
dish of stewed fruit is not appreciated so much for sup- 
per-time as for breakfast, at which time it is often eaten 
with great relish, and is usually the first dish to be called 
for. Since the discovery of this fact, I have often 
changed my nursery menus in this direction, omitting the 
use of any kind of fruit at supper-time unless it is asked 
for, and giving stewed fruit for breakfast, reserving fresh 
fruit for dinner menus in summer, when little meat or 
fat is taken. In this way I find it easier to fit it in with 
the different milk dishes, which sometimes cause trouble 
when used with fresh fruit, and thus there is less likeli- 
hood of consequent disagreement. At the risk of being 
tedious, it seems advisable to lay stress on points like 
these, even if they do appear to be self-evident. Milk 
should, for instance, form a large portion of the break- 
fast menu, and with the use of milk it is usually very 
much better for children under five to have stewed fruit 
instead of the average so-called ripe fruit that is sold so 
often in our markets. For this reason chiefly I prefer 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 49 

using at breakfast-time fruits that have been stewed, as 
less likely to cause trouble, and fresh fruit that is really- 
ripe for dinner, when milk is usually omitted from the 
menu. This rule is not an inflexible one, however, and 
any mother who is sure of the condition of the fruit she 
buys — that it is perfectly fresh, sound and ripe, not over- 
or under-ripe — may follow the usually suggested plan of 
fresh fruits for breakfast and stewed fruits for supper, 
with puddings, etc., for desserts for dinner. I have, how- 
ever, found the other plan perfectly practicable, and a 
great relief in hot weather. It is becoming a frequent 
practise to give oranges and other fresh fruits shortly 
before the second feeding of the day, for laxative effect. 
Drinking Enough Water. — A copious drink of water 
about an hour after supper is an important feature in 
regulating a child's condition, and it should never be neg- 
lected, especially in summer. A child four or five years 
old should drink at least half a pint of water between five 
o'clock supper and seven o'clock bedtime. The habit of 
drinking water both morning and evening can be culti- 
vated with a little care, and it is a habit of great impor- 
tance throughout life in its result on sluggish conditions. 
That this fact is not fully appreciated is evidenced by the 
constant cry in the nursery for laxative medicines, which 
are used and advised far too frequently. 

SIMPLE SUPPER DISHES FOR SUMMER 
AND WINTER 

(After two and a half years.) 
Milk toast, zwieback, bread and milk, bread and butter 
(home-made bread, one day old), sugar rusk, Graham bis- 
cuit, Graham biscuit sandwiches with good butter (noth- 
ing else) between, stewed apples, etc., if desired, with as 
much sweet milk as the child will drink or use with the 
above. 



50 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

Diet for the Approach of Cool Weather. — The ap- 
proach of cooler weather is the herald for the modifica- 
tions in diet that are necessary for keeping a child resist- 
ant to sudden variations of temperature, for supplying 
sufficient warmth, and for providing energy to meet the 
activity induced by the pleasant change from the enervat- 
ing months of summer. Any observant mother will see 
at once how quickly her children have been influenced by 
this change, how much more active they have become, 
and how appetite has improved ; hence the necessity for 
a fuller diet. Oatmeal may now be used for breakfast, 
served with cream ; this combination, containing fat and 
starch, supplies heat. A moderate amount of sugar is 
permissible, and some physicians say advisable, in cool 
weather if the digestion is good, but it must not be given 
to children who are in the habit of eating quantities of 
candy between meals, as in all probability they receive 
far more sugar than they can digest, and it would be ruin- 
ous to give them more. Doctor Wiley urges that it is 
inadvisable to allow children to acquire a taste for sugar. 

No Cake or Candy. — Doctor Rotch says : "The infant 
should never be given cake or candy, even to taste. I 
think that it is necessary to state this very decidedly, 
because it is an erroneous view which is held by most 
mothers that it can do no harm to give occasionally to an 
infant in its second year of life, or to a young child, a 
little candy or a little cake. This may be true so far as 
the immediate effect these articles may have on the diges- 
tion is concerned, but it is of far more importance that 
the infant should not have its taste perverted from those 
articles of diet which are best for its nutrition. These 
new articles appeal more strongly to its sense of taste, 
and allow it to know that there is something which tastes 
more agreeable than the food which it is accustomed to 
have. When an infant has acquired a taste for cake or 
candy, it will cease to enjoy the food by which its devel- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 51 

opment will be best perfected. It is, in fact, kinder to 
the infant never to allow it to taste cake or candy. When 
these articles are withheld, it will continue to have a 
healthy appetite and taste for necessary and proper arti- 
cles of food." 

Use of Sugar on Cereals. — A very satisfactory way of 
giving sugar on oatmeal to a child who has already ac- 
quired the habit is to sprinkle it lightly over each spoon- 
ful, using a large salt-shaker. A trial will show that less 
than a teaspoonful will be required for an entire saucer 
of porridge, if care is given to the shaking. The least 
possible shake will usually suffice. This suggestion is 
intended to help those mothers who perhaps may have 
unwisely allowed their little ones to eat cereals bounti- 
fully sprinkled with sugar. As far as possible, it is safer 
to keep a child from knowing anything about eating it 
with food of any kind; but, if the habit has once been 
formed, try regulating it in this way, and see if the child 
will not infinitely prefer the sweet gritty taste of the few 
granules he gets by sprinkling each spoonful immediately 
before he eats it to eating a sirupy concoction of por- 
ridge, milk and a larger quantity that has dissolved. I 
have seen a child of seven call for lump after lump of 
sugar for a small cup of cocoa simply because each lump 
dissolved before she could taste it, and she had no idea 
whatever of what sweet really meant. I have frequently 
seen this fact clearly demonstrated. I have also seen a 
child eat very contentedly a whole dish of oatmeal and 
cream minus salt or sugar, never missing the sugar, al- 
though accustomed to a little, because he was too intent 
on something else to think of the action required to shake 
it over each teaspoonful of porridge. By simply watch- 
ing children as they eat, I have come to the conclusion 
that it is not necessary to sweeten foods to any great 
extent to gratify their palates, even if they have acquired 
the taste. If they must have sugar, let them have it just 



52 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

as it comes from the grocer — a lump after dinner for des- 
sert; or, on special occasions, as a supplement to an un- 
satisfactory meal, it may be sprinkled very lightly upon 
a piece of bread and butter. When sugar is handled care- 
fully, it may be made a very important article of food, as, 
with a good digestion, it gives heat and energy and is 
easily assimilated. Efforts should always be made to sup- 
ply it largely in its natural state, as in fruits, etc. 

Cool Morning Breakfasts. — For chilly days cornmeal 
mush may also be used for breakfast. The use of wheat 
and hominy need not be abandoned, but oatmeal and corn- 
meal may now be used for the variations needed in the 
more liberal and heat-giving dietary required for cooler 
weather. An occasional baked potato is a pleasant addi- 
tion to the breakfast menu (supplying starch and salts) ; 
or a baked apple served with top milk, or pure sweet 
cream, if attainable, leaving this menu to be very simply 
completed with bread and butter and a dish of rice or 
hominy, the starch element (carbohydrates) necessary to 
make a perfect combination. The apple is to be peeled 
before baking. Graham or cornmeal muffins, if thor- 
oughly baked and made thin so that they are nearly all 
crust, will be enjoyed on cool mornings, and if made in 
this way they will be far more wholesome than stale 
bread that has been poorly baked. Too frequently the 
only virtue, so called, of one-day-old bread is the fact 
that it is stale. When muffins are crisp and dry through- 
out, they are appetizing and wholesome. They should 
not be given to a child when hot enough to melt the butter 
used, but when they are cool enough to put butter on in 
small pieces they will answer every purpose of good 
bread, and prove a pleasant variation. 

Dinner Menus in Cooler Weather. — For dinner 
menus in cooler weather a more liberal allowance of 
starchy foods may be used, such as potatoes, rice, purees 
of peas and beans, with tapioca and corn starch for des- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 53 

iserts; instead of the broths, meats may be used every 
day, and fish occasionally in summer ; puddings may now 
appear for desserts alternately with fruits, not forgetting 
that salts must be supplied in these menus by giving a 
green vegetable in connection ; as, for instance, rare roast 
beef (proteid), baked potato (starch and salts — carbohy- 
drate), dish gravy, puree of spinach (salts), with wine 
jelly for dessert; or, as a contrasting menu, roast lamb 
(proteid), rice (starch — served with salt and cream to 
supply fat lacking in rice), and dish gravy, with some 
wholesome fruit, fresh or stewed, for dessert, thus sup- 
plying the necessary salts. 

Supper Menus should continue the same as those in- 
dicated for summer use, allowing the child to satisfy his 
appetite by taking as much bread and milk as he desires, 
or whatever else is given in its place. It can never be 
insisted on too much that children should have light sup- 
pers, and that digestion should have its hardest work to 
do during the day, before evening comes. If care is 
taken in this direction, sleep will be sound and rest will 
be refreshing. There is no more perfect food combina- 
tion for a child's supper than a bowl of bread and milk ; 
in many nurseries this fact seems to be entirely over- 
looked. It is easily prepared, contains all the elements 
necessary for a perfect food, and deserves a prominent 
place in a child's dietary, provided the milk be pure and 
the bread wholesome. If by any unavoidable circum- 
stance a child has been deprived of a sufficient amount 
of nourishment during the day, as sometimes happens 
when traveling, and a capricious appetite interferes with 
the enjoyment of the bowl of bread and milk for supper, 
try a raw egg beaten up very light, with a breakfast-cup- 
ful of milk, a little sugar and a pinch of cinnamon added. 
This, with a piece of bread and butter, will make a full 
and easily digested meal, and is allowable for the eve- 
ning meal under special circumstances. 



54 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

This is a fact to remember when one is away from 
home with children, and, through disinclination to give 
trouble, subject to dietetic difficulties that frequently 
seem insurmountable. 

DIET IN ILLNESS 

Fonssagrives says : "Nursing is an instinct with women ; 
a little added art would do no harm." Prevention is al- 
ways better than cure ; and early care, with prompt rec- 
ognition and treatment of symptoms, in conditions not 
normal, is far better than to allow the development of 
fevers, rickets, marasmus and other innumerable ills to 
which children are constantly subjected unnecessarily on 
account of ignorance and carelessness on the part of those 
who are responsible. The late Doctor John S. Parry, 
of Philadelphia, stated that more than one-quarter of all 
the children between the ages of one month and five years 
who came under his observation in the Philadelphia Hos- 
pital during a period of three years were rachitic. Doc- 
tor Gee, of London, says that of the patients under the 
age of two years who have come under his observation 
in the London Hospital, one-third were rachitic. 

Bruen says: 'The digestion of an infant should never 
be forced ; the true index may be found by studying the 
actions of the bowels. No method of feeding should be 
tolerated until the passages show that the food is being 
digested and appropriated." 

Process of Digestion. — It is usually supposed that 
every one interested in dietetics knows that digestion is 
the process that prepares food for absorption into the 
blood, and that by assimilation the different elements of 
food are selected for their work in the body; that the 
teeth chew the food, and the saliva moistens it, making 
a beginning by partially digesting the starch in food, and 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 55 

that the stomach continues the work, followed by the 
intestines. But a clear understanding of this process is 
very rare among the laity. Inasmuch as every alimentary 
organ has its specific work to do, it must be plain that 
certain conditions call for certain foods ; that when diges- 
tion is faulty or disordered in any way, advice is neces- 
sary as to which class of foods is to be withheld and 
which is to be given; as, for instance, in typhoid fever 
there should be no tax on the intestines, and foods must, 
therefore, be given that are easily absorbed and digested 
in the stomach, such as peptonized milk or beef, white of 
egg in water, kumiss, etc. 

Mothers frequently err grievously in one direction, no 
doubt from lack of knowledge, in not seeing the advisa- 
bility of total abstinence .from food in cases of doubt, at 
least until a physician can be called. It is always the 
safest plan to follow, and it is the only way, sometimes, 
by which absolute rest can be obtained for the diseased 
parts. 

Preventive Diet. — Fonssagrives says: "The number 
of cases of disease which can be arrested in children 
by instituting a preventive diet is almost incredible. In 
them the digestive functions are in a state of activity 
proportionate to the need felt by their system for air 
and growth, and they are invariably involved in any 
attack of disease. What, then, is more natural and more 
salutary than to give them rest at the outset of an indis- 
position; but what is less commonly practiced? This 
matter of diet has, in recent years, been the subject of 
very important research, and it is now sufficiently cleared 
up ; but what I do maintain is that it is a question of the 
very greatest delicacy, which embarrasses educated physi- 
cians themselves, and consequently could not be authori- 
tatively solved in the family. . . . One other piece of 
advice to mothers, not less salutary, is to restrict the treat- 



56 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

ment of an indisposition to diet alone. It most always 
suffices for a cure, and if the attack must end in a disease, 
the ground has been cleared, the physician's action facili- 
tated, and future complications rendered less probable." 

Fonssagrives.' Rules to Follow in Illness 

"Do not give food, even light food, in a condition of 
fever, unless the physician has recognized its propriety. 

"Treat indisposition by diet, and begin it as soon as 
may be. 

"Observe the effects of articles of food, and preserve 
the motions, to show to the physician. 

"Always ask the physician in regard to the interval 
which should elapse between the food and the medicine 
prescribed; feed children chiefly at their habitual meal- 
times, and give them only liquid food after four or five 
o'clock in the evening. 

"It is more important to preserve, as much as pos- 
sible, the regularity of a child's meals, even when taken 
with an acute disease. If it is only a broth, it is better 
to give it at the usual hours of eating. The disease of 
itself breaks in sufficiently upon established habits, with- 
out our intentionally adding to the disorder. 

"Note the likes and dislikes of patients in the matter 
of food, and do not insist upon dishes which disgust 
them. Nothing is less scientific than the absolute specifi- 
cation of the articles of food to be given. The physician 
should designate classes of food, so that the mother may 
choose, within their limits, the particular article which the 
child most desires. It has been said, with reason, that 
a dish desired is half digested, and it is true of all ages. 
Yet it must be remarked that those mothers who under- 
stand the matter direct their children's alimentary tastes 
into almost any channel they please, or divert their repug- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 57 

nances by artifices known to themselves. They have noth- 
ing to learn in this respect. 

"Give only food of the very best quality and prepared 
with fastidious care." 



PEPTONIZED FOODS FOR ILLNESS 

Peptonized Foods. — To advise definitely what to feed 
to those who are delicate, convalescent or seriously ill, 
requires specific knowledge, as special conditions call for 
specially directed nutrients. Much may be done in this 
field as a safeguard or as a preventive by the nurse or 
mother who thoroughly understands the underlying prin- 
ciples of feeding in illness, and one of the first subjects 
she is called on to give attention to is that of peptoniza- 
tion of foods — making such work an aid to digestion 
when illness threatens, or a support when illness really 
exists. As milk is a food generally relied on in illness, 
it is very important to know how to make it assimilable. 
The attempts to render milk easy of digestion, or more 
digestible, by thickening with gruels, gelatine, boiled flour, 
arrowroot, etc., are expedients which have been tried for 
a great many years. To make milk a digestible food for 
the sick, some safe plan must be adopted, some process 
in which no mistake can be made — because of the great 
risk involved in faulty feeding during illness. The use 
of peptonizing products is such a process and is greatly 
relied upon by the medical profession in all kinds of 
illness. 

In the practical application of the peptonizing process it 
is important to remember that great heat destroys, or cold 
stops, the digestive action, so that when the process has 
gone far enough, the milk should be either immediately 
brought to the boiling point or put directly on ice. Di- 
gestion will continue as long as the milk is kept warm — 



58 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

at a temperature favorable to the action of the peptoniz- 
ing principle — until it is completely peptonized. 

Degree of Digestibility Can Be Controlled. — One of 
the peculiar features of the peptonizing process is that 
the milk may be given just that degree of digestibility 
that is required under special conditions. It is wholly 
controlled by the length of time during which it is sub- 
jected to heat. 

How to Make Whey.- — Put one pint of fresh milk 
into a saucepan and heat it lukewarm (not over one hun- 
dred degrees Fahrenheit) ; then add two (2) teaspoon- 
fuls of Essence of Pepsine and stir just enough to mix. 
Let it stand until firmly jellied, then beat with a fork 
until finally divided; strain, and the whey (liquid part) is 
ready for use. Keep in a bottle near ice. 

Junket. — Into a clean saucepan put one-half pint of 
fresh, cool milk, heat it lukewarm (not over one hundred 
degrees Fahrenheit) ; then add one teaspoonful of Es- 
sence of Pepsine, Fairchild, or one junket tablet, and stir 
just enough to mix; divide quickly into small cups or 
glasses and let stand until firmly jellied, when the junket 
is ready for use, just as it is, or with sugar; it may be 
placed on ice and taken cold. 

Egg Junket. — Beat to a froth one strictly fresh egg; 
sweeten with two teaspoon fuls of sugar ; then stir in thor- 
oughly one-half pint of fresh cool milk ; put this mixture 
into a clean saucepan and heat it lukewarm and proceed 
as with plain junket. 

Cocoa Junket. — Put an even teaspoonful of any good 
cocoa and two teaspoonfuls of sugar into a saucepan; 
scald with two tablespoon fuls of boiling water; rub this 
paste smooth; then stir in thoroughly one half-pint of 
fresh, cool milk; heat this mixture lukewarm (not over 
one hundred degrees Fahrenheit) ; then add one tea- 
spoonful of Essence, one junket tablet and proceed as 
with plain junket. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 59 

Coffee Junket. — Dissolve two teaspoonfuls of sugar 
in two tablespoonfuls of clear strong coffee; mix this 
thoroughly with one-half pint of fresh, cool milk, and 
proceed as with plain junket. 

Hot Peptonized Milk as a Beverage. — Hot peptonized 
milk is a grateful and nourishing beverage for invalid 
children and dyspeptics, diabetics and consumptives. In 
many cases it is most helpful in the morning, taken on 
rising, or with breakfast, and it is excellent at any time 
when one suffers from exhaustion with intolerance of 
solid food. There is nothing better in the way of nour- 
ishment to take before retiring than hot peptonized milk, 
and at the table it is a good substitute for tea or coffee. 

Peptonized Milk with Cereals. — Oatmeal, rice, hom- 
iny, etc., are more readily digestible when taken with pep- 
tonized milk, and its use with the various cereals is espe- 
cially recommended for young children and children with 
defective digestion. 

Peptonized Milk Gruel. — Mix a half-pint of well- 
boiled hot gruel with a half-pint of cold fresh milk and 
strain into a pitcher or jar ; add immediately the powder 
contained in one of the Peptonizing Tubes (Fairchild) 
and stir until it is dissolved. Put the pitcher or jar in 
a hot water bath or warm place for five minutes ; then 
pour the mixture into a clean bottle and place on ice; 
serve hot or cold. 

The gruel may be made from arrowroot, wheat flour, 
barley or oatmeal, etc. ; but in each instance the farina- 
ceous material should be boiled with water until the starch 
granules are thoroughly swollen and broken up. 

Liquid, Light, and Convalescent's Diet. — Another 
frequent source of trouble is met with in the effort to 
bring about an adequate comprehension of the terms 
liquid diet, light diet, convalescent diet, etc. Directions 
are frequently given to mothers and nurses in this gen- 
eral manner. Nurses are supposed to know what these 



60 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

terms mean, but many mothers need information in this 
respect. One might think a broiled chop and a baked 
potato constituted a very light diet, while another would 
think it should be corn-starch pudding, tea and toast. 
Referring to this subject, the late Professor Gross, of 
Philadelphia — to whose utterances the weight of author- 
ity has always been accorded — once said : "The diet of 
the sick-room has slain its thousands and tens of thou- 
sands. Broths and slops and jellies and custards and 
ptisans are usually as disgusting as they are pernicious. 
Men worn out by disease and injury must have nutritious 
and concentrated food. The ordinary preparations for 
the sick are, in general, not only not nutritious, but in- 
sipid and flatulent. Animal soups are among the most 
efficient supporters of the exhausted system, and every 
medical man should know how to give directions for their 
preparation. The life of a man is his food. Solid arti- 
cles are, of course, withheld in acute diseases in their 
earlier stages ; but when the patient begins to convalesce, 
they are frequently borne with impunity and greatly pro- 
mote recovery. All animal soups should be made of lean 
meat, and their nutritious properties, as well as the flavor, 
may be much increased by the addition of some vegetable 
substances, as rice or barley." 

Ask Physicians for Definite Directions. — Directions 
should be specific if they are to be of benefit. Mothers 
should ask physicians for definite directions, and insist 
on having them, and then follow them to the letter. 

The usual acceptation of the term liquid diet implies 
meat broths, milk, whether peptonized or not, beef juice, 
gruels, barley water, white of egg, mulled egg, whey, 
wine and water, etc., all of which are to be given under 
the direction of the physician, as it is during fevers and 
acute stages of disease that they are required. It is a 
difficult and important matter to determine the kind and 
quality required during twenty-four hours, the intervals 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 61 

to be allowed, and the temperature of the liquid foods 
to be given. 

Light diet is the term usually employed to designate 
the foods to be given during convalescence, and consists 
of very simple and easily digested foods. Fresh-laid eggs 
may be used when changing from the broth diet to solid 
food. They should be cooked in hot water, as directed 
elsewhere. Fonssagrives gives a method that he asserts 
to be infallible for making the whites of eggs milky in 
cooking, which he says is the proof of good cooking and 
the promise of easy digestion. It is to have a tumbler 
(or a cup) filled with water brought to the boiling-point, 
in which the egg is to be placed; withdraw the glass or 
cup from the heat, and take out the egg when it can be 
done without scalding the fingers. Eight minutes' immer- 
sion in boiling water that has been taken from the source 
of heat and covered will usually be found to serve the 
purpose. Something depends on the freshness of the egg. 

Light diet consists of everything included in liquid diet, 
fruit, such as grapes and oranges, boiled or poached eggs, 
dry and milk toast, all the soups allowed in the nursery, 
delicate puddings, scraped beef, the tender part of oysters, 
jellies made with gelatin, either sweet, with fruit flavor- 
ing or wine, or not sweet, using salt with meat and chicken 
broths, etc. The change to light from liquid diet should 
be very gradually made, adding one new food at a time. 

The following rules should always be observed in pre- 
paring, cooking and serving food for the sick : "All the 
utensils employed should be scrupulously clean. Never 
make a large quantity of one thing at a time. Serve 
everything in as tempting a form as possible. Put only 
a small quantity of an article on a dish at a time. Keep 
milk and other delicacies on ice in warm weather. Never 
leave food about a sick-room. Never offer beef tea or 
broth with the smallest particle of fat or grease on it." 

Convalescent Diet differs only from the ordinary 



62 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

diet to which the child is accustomed in its extreme 
simplicity and the small quantities allowed. One or two 
foods only should be used at one meal. Bread, fresh 
eggs, fish, oysters, meat and cooked fruits, and a few 
of the most easily digested vegetables, are the foods from 
which to select. Remember that the sudden sight of food 
is sometimes an appetizer, and that a convalescent will 
often eat what is brought to him unawares and refuse to 
eat what he has himself been asked to choose, or deny 
that he has an appetite when food is mentioned. 

Practical Points by Doctor Burnet Concerning Food 
in Illness. — The following is a summary of practical 
points for use with children, as suggested by the remarks 
of R. W. Burnet, M. D.,* concerning foods in illness: 
Drinking hot water at bedtime and cold or hot in the 
morning before breakfast for dyspeptic disorders ; a tea- 
spoonful of malt added to a cup of milk when keeping 
up milk diet for growing boys and girls who are anemic ; 
the use of additional cream in food as a laxative ; in mu- 
cous diarrhea to use farinaceous foods, such as arrow- 
root, tapioca, sago, with milk, white of egg, to give small 
quantities of food at short intervals, to keep the patient 
warm, the food to be neither hot nor cold, to be eaten 
slowly, a teaspoonful at a time, to use brandy if physi- 
cian advises, and to use meat juice when farinaceous 
foods will not do; in kidney troubles, often following 
scarlet fever, etc., to feed very lightly, to cut down albu- 
minoids under the physician's advice, to use milk as a 
sole diet for children in this trouble, and for convales- 
cence to give the usual nursery menus minus meat; in 
scurvy, caused by restricted diet, if fresh vegetables or 
fruit can not be had, to use lemon juice (purees are a 
useful form for vegetables in this trouble, and all softer 
foods of nursery dietaries). 

* Foods and Dietaries. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 63 

Diet for Anemic Children. — Anemia may occur in 
connection with all diseases. For dietaries for anemic 
children any of the nursery menus given may be used, 
with a glass of cocoa or beef tea half-way between meals, 
and before bed a cup of peptonized or malted milk (a 
teaspoonful of extract of malt to a cup of milk). Cream 
added to whey is a useful food for children of consump- 
tive inheritance. They should early have salts of tender 
meats, vegetables and fruits, a sufficient quantity of milk, 
open-air life, little study and an abundant and easily as- 
similated diet. Bronchitis requires a liberal dietary of 
light nourishing food. Diphtheria requires abundant 
nourishment. There is danger of overfeeding in typhoid 
fever; milk should be carefully taken, and it should be 
peptonized when used. In diarrhea, gelatin and arrow- 
root, white of egg and water, peptonized milk, etc., are 
useful. Special dietaries must be given by the physician, 
as each case must be individualized, and we should be 
able to select the kind of food required and the form in 
which to give it, and also to direct how it should be pre- 
pared. 

Laxative Foods. — Foods that are decidedly laxative 
and allowable for children are ripe peaches, stewed rhu- 
barb, stewed or dried prunes, figs, dates, oranges, apples, 
oatmeal porridge, bran mush, Indian meal mush, whole- 
meal bread, rye and Graham bread, all cereals made of 
the whole grain, tomatoes, spinach, boiled Spanish 
onions, etc. 

Doctor Thompson says :* 

"Gingerbread, especially for children, is sometimes ef- 
ficacious. 

"Grape juice is somewhat laxative. 

"Olive oil or cod-liver oil, if taken at bedtime into an 
empty stomach, is laxative for some persons, especially 
children. 



* Practical Dietetics, by W. Gilman Thompson, M.D. 



64 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

"With many persons having imperfect digestion raw 
fruits disagree ; and, since their laxative properties are 
not much weakened by being cooked, it is better to eat 
them in that form." 

Use of Water as a Laxative. — A baby should be of- 
fered water six or seven times a day. For older children, 
it should be remembered that water is needed according 
to activity and to bodily temperature — the greater the 
activity the greater the need for water. 

A child weighing forty pounds should drink at least 
twenty ounces of water a day, and hot weather calls for 
more. 

Rules for Cases of Poisoning. — Inasmuch as children 
are frequently poisoned by eating sweets improperly pre- 
pared, or berries, or seeds, or by sucking painted toys, 
their treatment under such conditions becomes a matter 
very closely related to dietetics. Jane H. Walker, M. D., 
says :* "The first and most important thing is to make 
the child vomit as speedily as possible, ... to tickle 
the back of the throat with a feather, and give large 
drinks of lukewarm water, or of mustard and warm 
water. A teaspoonful of mustard in a tumbler of warm 
water is very efficacious. Greasy or soapy water, if it is 
the readiest obtainable, does perfectly; soapy water has 
the advantage that if the poisonous substance taken be an 
acid, it is an excellent antidote. See that the child is 
repeatedly nauseated, and then give it bland, soothing 
substances, such as white of egg beaten up, milk, barley 
water, or oil. These help if the poison has been of an 
irritating character, such as carbolic acid. 

"If there is great depression, stimulants must be given 
and hot-water bottles applied. The best stimulant is 
strong hot tea, because it is an antidote to many poisons. 

"If there is great tendency to sleep, it must be pre- 



A Book for Every Woman, Longmans, Green & Co. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 



65 



vented at all cost. This tendency generally shows that 
opium in one of its numerous preparations has been taken, 
and sleep indulged in at this time will probably be the 
sleep that knows no waking. When the poisonous sub- 
stance that has been taken is known, the method of pro- 
cedure differs with the particular poison." 

ANTIDOTES FOR POISONS 



Useful Hints for Emergencies 

In cases where the other articles to be used as anti- 
dotes are not in the house, give two tablespoon fuls of 
made mustard in a pint of warm water. Also give large 
draughts of warm milk or water mixed with oil, butter 
or lard. If possible, give as follows : 

For bedbug poison, 
blue vitriol, 
corrosive sublimate, 
lead water, 
saltpeter, 
sugar of lead, 
sulphate of zinc, 
red precipitate, 
vermilion, 

For Fowler's solution, 
white precipitate, 
arsenic, 



. Give milk or white of eggs in large 
quantities. 



For antimonial wine, 
tartar emetic, 

For oil of vitriol, 
aqua fortis, 
bicarbonate of potas- 
sium, 
hydrochloric acid, 
oxalic acid, 



Give prompt emetic of mustard and 
' salt, tablespoonful of each ; follow 
with sweet oil, butter or milk. 

Drink warm water to encourage vom- 
iting. If vomiting does not stop, 
give a grain of opium in water. 



i Magnesia or soap dissolved in water, 
every two minutes. 



66 



DIET FOR CHILDREN 



For caustic soda, 
caustic potash, 
volatile alkali, 



For carbolic acid, 



For chloral hydrate, 
chloroform, 



Drink freely of water with vinegar 
or lemon juice in it. 

Give flour and water or glutinous 
drinks (olive oil in large quanti- 
ties, then an emetic, is recom- 
mended by Doctor Walker). 

Pour cold water over the head and 
face, with artificial respiration, and 
galvanic battery. 

Prompt emetics ; soap or mucilagi- 
nous drinks. 

Strong coffee, followed by ground 
mustard or grease in warm water 
to produce vomiting. Keep in mo- 
tion. 

Give common salt in water. 



Emetic of mustard or sulphate of 
zinc, aided by warm water.* 



For carbonate of sodium, 
copperas, 
cobalt, 

For laudanum, 
morphine, 
opium (paregoric 
carminatives), 

For nitrate of silver, 

For strychnine (rat and 
beetle paste), 
tincture of nux vom- 
ica, 

Diet for School Children. — Yeo emphasizes the 
period of school life as one of the most critical and im- 
portant epochs in the life of children as regards adequate 
nutrition. He says that at this period there is not only 
continuous growth and development, but remarkable ac- 
tivity, which demands a complete and liberal dietary. 
Teachers in boarding-schools are apt to overlook this 
fact, and parents, as a rule, know little of the necessity 
for additional care at this time, with the result only too 
often of the foundation being laid for future disease, or 
of the undermining of strength that should be held in 
reserve for later life. Both body and mind are under- 



* American Analyst. 



.WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 67 

going rapid development at this time, and the greatest 
care should be exercised. The food must be abundant, 
and must contain sufficient proteids, starches, sugars and 
inorganic salts to meet the constant demand for these con- 
stituents of a perfect food. It must be remembered that 
this is a period when digestion and assimilation are ac- 
tive. It is a frequent custom among mothers of growing 
boys and girls going to school to jest about their immense 
appetites, and not only to jest, but actually to limit sup- 
plies of certain foods especially needed at this period. 
The custom of sending children to school on a light 
breakfast or none at all, with a cold luncheon for the 
noon meal, is reprehensible to the last degree. Or, if a 
hot dinner is provided, the habit of rushing home at 
noon in a limited time to consume eagerly and rapidly the 
food that should be eaten leisurely and enjoyed, should 
not be allowed under any circumstances. If school laws 
are rigid, remember that parental authority should be 
absolute, and insist on different hours ; or, if nothing bet- 
ter can be done, keep the child away for the time re- 
quired, irrespective of late-marks, etc. Such action, if 
concerted, would speedily bring authorities to the point 
of meeting existing needs in this direction. Do not for- 
get that there is a lifetime for study and only part of one 
during which the physical building-up process can be 
regulated. 

Good Rules to Follow. — To sum up the rules laid 
down by Yeo, Dukes, Thompson and others, the foods 
required during this period are as follows: well-made 
whole-meal bread; as much butter as is desired; an 
abundant supply of milk all through adolescence ; starches 
and sugars should be freely supplied (giving heat and 
force) ; meat twice a day; fish for delicate feeders ; green 
vegetables in abundance, either alone or in vegetable 
soups (to prevent eczema) ; suppers should be light, not 
stimulating; the craving for sweets should be satisfied 



68 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

with moderation and wisdom in selection; a free use of 
salads should be made; all cooking should be carefully 
looked after, and food should be made savory and appe- 
tizing; in fact, the rules given by dietists for early life 
should be carried out through the entire period of child- 
hood to adult life, and, indeed, many of the suggestions 
may be followed with benefit even then. 

Treatment of Feeble School Children. — Doctor 
Thompson says many children inherit feeble constitu- 
tions, such as the scrofulous, rachitic and gouty, which 
must be combated through the whole period of childhood. 
He says such children are better at home, where they 
can be under constant observation and proper dietetic 
treatment, or country schools can be found for them 
where such matters are made the subject of special con- 
sideration. He speaks of the large number of cases of 
anemia and chlorosis seen in young girls that he says 
are directly traceable to malnutrition from faulty diet. 
This fact may serve to show to some parents why Prov- 
idence, as they say, has so frequently afflicted their grow- 
ing daughters with delicate health, which is more fre- 
quently their lament than their shame. I think it was 
Shirley Dare who said that the day will come when many 
forms of illness will be considered a discredit to those 
involved. As the knowledge of causes increases there 
will certainly come a less ready willingness to credit 
everything to a hitherto much-abused Providence. The 
patience of physicians in dealing with this class of dis- 
eases is a constantly growing marvel. 

Inasmuch as Doctor Thompson* has covered the sub- 
ject of school diet so thoroughly, liberal quotations are 
made in the interest of our readers. 

"Girls take much less exercise than boys, as a rule, 
and are more apt to become constipated. This difficulty 



* Practical Dietetics, W. Gilman Thompson, M.D. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 69 

may be increased by lack of sufficient fresh vegetables 
or fruit in their diet, and if prolonged it is enough in 
itself to cause anemia. The latter (anemia) may also 
be brought about by insufficient good animal food. It 
should be the imperative duty of every head master of 
a school for children to realize the responsibilities of 
rightly developing the physical constitution of those in- 
trusted to his care, and to make a thorough study of the 
questions of dietetics involved. 

"An important consideration in school diet is to pre- 
vent monotony, which becomes so common from eco- 
nomic reasons, or more often from carelessness. It is 
much easier to yield to routine and force of habit, or to 
leave the matter to the indiscretions of an unintelligent 
cook. But a little study and thought expended upon this 
subject can always result in furnishing variety in a whole- 
some diet without material increase of expense. 

"The hours for study and for meals should be so reg- 
ulated that sufficient time should be allowed before each 
meal for children to wash and prepare themselves com- 
fortably, without going to the table excited by hurry, 
and they should be required to remain at the table 
throughout a fixed time, never being allowed to hastily 
swallow their food in order to complete an unfinished 
task or game. An interval of half an hour or more 
should intervene for recreation after meals, in order that 
digestion may be well under way before any mental ex- 
ertion is required. Constant nibbling at food between 
meals should be forbidden; it destroys the appetite, in- 
creases the saliva, and interferes with gastric digestion. 
The number of meals for children should be adapted to 
the age of the pupils. For young children from ten to 
twelve or thirteen years of age it may be necessary to 
furnish food somewhat oftener than for the older ones. 

"If children live at a distance from their school, or if 
they are weak and easily fatigued and inclined to sleep 



70 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

over in the morning, their hours for study should be so 
adjusted that they are never obliged to hurry their eating 
in order to be on time for school work. The teachers 
should consider themselves quite as responsible for reg- 
ulating this matter as are the parents. 

"Children should never be hurried off to school in the 
morning with an insufficient and rapidly eaten breakfast. 
Their appetites are often poor at this hour from the ef- 
fects of an ill-ventilated sleeping apartment, and if they 
are subsequently kept at school for five hours without 
luncheon they will be very ill prepared for mental work. 
Or they ride to school without exercise after a hasty 
breakfast, take a hurried cold lunch at noon, and perhaps 
a warmed-over late dinner, and at six or seven o'clock a 
fourth meal, after which they are expected to study and 
go to bed. 

"It is being more and more realized by teachers and 
the public in general that the breaking down of health 
at school is quite as often, if not oftener, due to impov- 
erished nutrition than to overwork. 

"A fact which is often overlooked in the dietetic treat- 
ment of growing children is that their digestive processes 
are so active that the stomach is emptied somewhat 
sooner than in the case of adults, and their meals being 
promptly absorbed, it is natural for them to become hun- 
gry if the intervals between the hours of eating are pro- 
longed. In some schools, children are given their last 
meal of the day at six o'clock in the evening, and they 
may not breakfast until seven or half past seven, or even 
later, leaving an interval of over thirteen hours during 
which they have no food at all. The evening meal i§ 
usually made light, on the ground that they can sleep bet- 
ter, and is therefore sooner digested. Robust children 
can, perhaps, thrive on this treatment, but those less 
strong are injured by it. For some school children of 
from ten to fourteen years of age it will be much better 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 71 

to give the evening meal later, at say seven o'clock, and 
the breakfast at half past six or seven, and if they 
awaken hungry during the night, there is no harm in 
their having a glass of milk and a cracker. 

"Very delicate children whose appetites are poor and 
who do not do justice to their regular meals should be 
given an extra allowance of hot broth or hot milk, or an 
occasional cup of chocolate, with bread and butter and 
rusk, betzveen meals. 

"These general rules are applicable in cases of children 
who, during one or two years, seem to develop with ex- 
traordinary suddenness and rapidity, growing sometimes 
two inches or more in six months, and attaining a height 
quite disproportionate to their frames. The demands of 
this rapid growth must be met by proper nutrition, or 
serious subsequent impairment of vitality may result. 
Such children should have their meals made tempting 
by good cooking and pleasant variety, as well as an agree- 
able appearance of the food. 

"Meat which is carved in unsightly masses, and vege- 
tables which are sodden and tasteless, will be refused, 
and an ill attempt is made to supply the deficiency in 
proper food by eating indigestible candy, nuts, etc. Chil- 
dren often have no natural liking for meat, and prefer 
puddings, pastry, or sweets when they can obtain them, 
and it is the more important that meat should be made at- 
tractive to them at the age when they need it. 

"It is unnecessary to discuss further questions which, 
after all, must be controlled by tact and circumstances of 
individual cases, and the line must be drawn with care 
betzveen making a child too fastidious on the one hand 
in regard to the nature of its food, and, on the other hand, 
impairing its constitution by monotony of diet and ill- 
cooked viands. Children at school should especially be 
required to eat slowly, for the habit of fast eating is al- 
most contagious, and, as it is much easier to acquire than 



72 . DIET FOR CHILDREN 

to overcome, the foundation of dyspepsia and life-long 
discomfort may be laid in this way in childhood." 

A Sample School Diet.— "If early rising is insisted 
upon, a child should never be set any task before break- 
fast, especially in winter, and if it is not expedient to 
serve a full breakfast at half past six or seven, the child 
should be given a bowl of hot milk and bread, or a cup 
of cocoa with a roll, or other light food; breakfast may 
be served later, after the first exercises of the morning, 
and should be a substantial meal with animal food in the 
form of either fish, or eggs, or cold meat of some sort, 
with porridge of wheaten grits, or hominy with milk or 
cream and abundant sugar, also bread and butter, with 
some sweets in the form of jam, or marmalade, or stewed 
fruit. Dinner, which should always be served near the 
middle of the day, should comprise meat, potatoes, with 
one or two green vegetables, and some form of sweet 
pudding. The supper, it is generally admitted, should 
comprise only easily digested articles of food, and such 
substances as pastry, cheese and meats are better omitted. 
It should consist of either a porridge with milk or cream, 
or a light farinaceous pudding of rice, tapioca, sago and 
the like, with bread and butter, and some simple form 
of preserve; or stewed apples or prunes, or very light 
plain cake, or a good bowl of nutritious broth with bread 
or crackers may be substituted for the porridge or pud- 
ding. It will sometimes be found best to serve this meal 
at seven o'clock or half past seven; and, if hungry, the 
child may be given a slice of bread and butter and a cup 
of weak tea or coffee, mostly hot milk, at half past five 
or six o'clock. 

"Children need fat, but they do not digest meat fat 
well, as a rule, and are very apt to dislike it. They will 
often take suet pudding, however, when hot mutton fat 
wholly disagrees with them. 

"Milk should be freely supplied, not only in the form 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 73 

of puddings and porridges, but as an occasional beverage, 
and children should be made to understand that when 
hungry they can obtain a glass of milk, biscuit, or a bowl 
of bread and milk, for the asking. 

"Fresh fish, eggs and bacon are all wholesome and 
serviceable foods for children, and meat, as a rule, may 
be given twice a day, but not oftener. It may sometimes 
be advisable to give it but once a day when fish or eggs 
are supplied ; it should, however, always be given at least 
once daily, and better twice to rapidly growing children. 
Large, strong boys require a great deal of meat, and its 
use should not be stinted. The larger boys may eat from 
seven to nine or even twelve ounces of cooked meat as 
a ration, although many children may not require so 
much, the smaller boys doing well with from five to six 
ounces, and the older boys with from seven to eight 
ounces daily. 

"During midwinter, when fresh vegetables are almost 
unobtainable in severe climates, vigorous boys are apt to 
have too much meat given them, and Yeo calls attention 
to the fact that eczema may be produced in them by a too 
exclusive animal diet. 

"Overeating should be guarded against. The habit of 
slow eating should be insisted upon. 

"It is well to allow children to play but moderately im- 
mediately after eating, and to require no mental work of 
them at such times. 

"For some reason the diet in girls' schools is apt to 
be much less carefully regulated than in corresponding 
schools for boys. This applies not only in the United 
States, but it has been found the common experience in 
England and France; it is the more unfortunate, since 
girls, from their greater delicacy of constitution, espe- 
cially during school age, require more careful nurture. 
Differences in habits and exercise and out-door recrea- 
tion, no doubt, in part, are responsible for the compara- 



74 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

tive lack of proper development in some girls' schools 
as compared with boys', but this should be recognized 
and regulated with as much care as the diet. 

"During the establishment of puberty it is best for 
children to avoid stimulating and highly seasoned food, 
and eating late at night. . . . Alcohol should be 
wholly forbidden." 

The British Medical Journal says, in commenting on 
an article in the St. James's Gazette, on the question 
whether "parents underfeed their children," that "it is 
only too true that underfeeding prevails, — particularly in 
the girls' school ; not the underfeeding of necessity, but 
the semi-starvation due to ignorance or meanness. The 
facts would be revealed at once, and the greatest benefit 
be conferred upon the life, health, happiness and growth 
of children, if we could impress upon parents and teach- 
ers the value of scales and measure. Every age has its 
normal height and weight, and every season and every 
year its normal rate of growth. The diet may be inade- 
quate in proportion to the work required to be done, 
especially where work is required before food, as in early 
morning lessons. . . . Insufficient care is taken at 
home, and still more at school, to provide an adequate 
variety in feeding. It is often the same, day after day, 
week after week, and year after year. The outcry 
against the feeding at schools, which arises from time to 
time, is frequently to be traced to this defect. Most of 
the causes of the underfeeding of children, both at home 
and at school, would disappear if the scales and measure 
were systematically resorted to, for they would instantly 
point out those children who were not thriving. Unnat- 
ural and unreasonable restraints would be removed by 
parents and teachers, if hindrances to growth were so 
palpably presented to them." 

School Luncheons.— Some years ago a well-known 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 75 

editor discussed the question of school lunches in a 
thoroughly practical manner, and as the problem is an 
important one in connection with food for growing chil- 
dren, I will give you the salient points of her article. 

She said: "So much attention is now being given to 
the scientific value of foods that no intelligent house- 
keeper needs to be reminded of the fact that age and oc- 
cupation must be taken into consideration when prepar- 
ing the daily menu for the members of her family. 

"But the problem becomes an important one when we 
realize that upon the food of our children depends their 
healthful development, and that upon this depends, in a 
large measure, the future of the state. 

"When we know that the right food, chemically con- 
sidered, and not the most delicious or tempting, is the 
basis of all growth, mental as well as physical, the im- 
portance of the subject in regard to children becomes 
overwhelming. 

"The majority of the children who are soon to be men 
and women, fathers and mothers, in their turn, is now 
being educated in our public schools, and threaded 
through and through the school communities are chil- 
dren who represent hundreds of thousands of homes 
where proper food is never thought of, and where such 
a matter as getting a given amount of nourishment for 
a given expenditure is never considered. 

"Boston some years ago turned its attention to these 
facts, and, as a matter of experiment, decided to assume 
some control of the noon luncheons of the higher grade 
schools. It was hoped by this to improve the nutrition 
of the children, and indirectly to improve home condi- 
tions, where the need existed, by educating the boys and 
girls to a higher standard of living, cookery and clean- 
liness. 

"Other cities, east and west, watched the experiment 



76 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

with interest, and offered the Hub the flattery of imita- 
tion more or less close, and most of the higher schools 
came well in line for the new order of things." 

The state of things in the Philadelphia Normal School 
for Girls at that time is best described in a letter sent 
the Household by a woman in charge of the luncheons 
served there. 

"We have demonstrated," she writes, "that the average 
schoolgirl, in spite of the fact that she has been accused 
of a special predilection for pickles, pretzels and sweets, 
does appreciate a wholesome hygienic luncheon. A large 
basement room of the building has been fitted by fne 
committee on the school with tables and stools and a long 
lunch-counter at one end of the room. Other tables have 
been placed in the corridor in order to seat as many as 
possible, although the capacity is even now wholly inade- 
quate. Another room with separate counters accommo- 
dates the pupils of the School of Practice. 

"The success of the new arrangement has more than 
satisfied all the hopes of the committee of the faculty 
who have the matter in charge. Quarter before twelve 
luncheon is ready, four attendants standing behind the 
counter, to serve the students as quickly as possible. 
About five hundred buy either a part or all of their 
luncheon. 

"The menu each day consists of soup, cocoa, sand- 
wiches, milk, fruits, rusk, biscuits and cakes of different 
kinds. The soup varies each day, as well as the sand- 
wiches and cakes. Great care is given to keeping the 
soup and cocoa hot. 

"During the warm weather ice cream was served every 
day; now it appears but twice a week. Whole wheat 
bread has been introduced, and is rapidly growing in fa- 
vor. Believing in the old adage of the horse who couldn't 
be made to drink, the committee decided that some con- 
cessions must be made at first, and that only gradually 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 77 

would the more wholesome articles be given preference. 
That time is rapidly approaching. It is more often now 
that cakes are seen on the counter after lunch is over, 
where formerly it was sandwiches and fruit. 

"Since many students bring a part of their lunches, the 
food purchased does not, of course, indicate altogether 
the quality of the luncheon actually eaten. Fifty sand- 
wiches a day seem a small number to sell to so many, but 
probably most of the girls bring this substantial part of 
the lunch from home. 

"It is the hope of those now serving the lunch to pre- 
pare hot dishes other than soup for the same price, in 
order to give as much variety as possible." 

The committee on hygiene of the Boston School Board 
(which committee, by the way, should be duplicated on 
every school board) went a step further in securing an 
order to the effect that only such food as was approved 
by it should be sold in the city schoolhouses. They then 
placed the task of supplying suitable lunches with the 
New England Kitchen (an institution somewhat similar 
to our College Settlement Kitchen), and although at first 
private funds were needed, the experiment soon proved 
its success by becoming self-supporting. 

The beneficial effects of these simple hearty luncheons 
on the mental vigor of the students and their appreciation 
of their value were practically shown during the school 
year and fully reported. A noticeable benefit was re- 
ported by the parents also. 

With all these favorable and encouraging results, why 
are these experiments not repeated in every one-session 
school in the country ? 

Although our cities and towns do not yet admit, as 
those of the more paternal governments have done, that 
their responsibility for the children while in school in- 
cludes the care of the body as well as of the mind, yet 
this responsibility is being somewhat recognized when 



78 DIET FOR _ CHILDREN 

the newest high-school buildings are planned with kitchen 
and lunch rooms. But furnishing the equipment is but 
the first step in the right direction, and placing the work 
of supplying food in the hands of any one individual is 
but the second. Even should the city or town assume 
the financial responsibility of these luncheons, the plans 
would be incomplete without some one to set a standard 
of quality and cleanliness, to insist that the food must 
be not only attractive, but of good nutritive value, suit- 
able for the children and served in proper fashion. Some 
one, too, must have strength of mind to stand firm for 
the principles involved, even if the boys "go on a pie 
strike," as happened in a neighboring city, or if the bake- 
shop around the corner hangs up a sign that reads: 
"Here you can get what you want, and not what the city 
says you must have." 

And the educational side is not the least of the work, 
while the mothers still ask : "Why are you not willing to 
sell pies?" 

The lunch may be sent, as in Boston, from one cen- 
tral station, or it may be largely prepared in the school 
kitchen. Each method has been successfully tried, and 
each has its own special advantages; but under either 
or any condition, the essential point is the maintenance 
of a high standard of cleanliness and quality by some one 
with a broader point of view than is possible to the per- 
son who comes directly in contact with the children at the 
lunch-counter. 

A broad-minded educated woman is the one best fitted 
to hold that standard for the community, and this work 
is worthy of her efforts. 

It may seem prosaic, and it will be full of petty de- 
tails, but it has its inspiring side also in the consciousness 
that it may bring an influence of far-reaching effect on 
the physical and, consequently, mental and moral vigor of 
the men and women of the coming generation. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 79 

Professor Dutton, in response to a personal request for 
the same, writes in regard to this question as follows : 

"The lunch room becomes at once a central factor in 
any well-conducted school. Its importance is increased 
by the fact that the breakfast is often too hastily eaten, 
and hence is insufficient to sustain the child during the 
entire morning. 

"The Horace Mann School is equipped with a lunch 
room large enough to seat three hundred pupils at tables. 
Connected with it is an ample kitchen equipped with the 
necessary steam tables, ranges, urns, etc., for keeping 
food hot. The children in the elementary school occupy 
the lunch room from 11:30 a. m. to 12 m. ; the high- 
school pupils from 12:15 to 1 p. m. ; and after that the 
students of Teachers' College are admitted. It is under 
the same general management as the Columbia Univer- 
sity lunch room, and while the ideal has probably never 
been reached in such matters, the dietaries provided are 
nutritious and wholesome. Many pupils prefer to bring 
from home a portion of their lunch, as, for example, a 
sandwich or bread and butter, and to supplement this 
with a cup of hot soup or bouillon, with, perhaps, a cup 
of cocoa or a glass of milk. As the pupils enter the 
lunch room each one takes a tray, and, passing along in 
front of the counter, takes what he desires, and pays for 
it at the cashier's desk. The only thing needed is to se- 
cure greater perfection in the selection and preparation 
of the daily menu. A committee, consisting of the teach- 
ers, college physician, and the principals of the high and 
elementary schools, has this matter in charge, and is 
working in cooperation with the caterer. 

"The health of the pupils is singularly good, and the 
success of the school in its various athletic enterprises 
is marked. Doubtless, some of the credit for this should 
be awarded the lunch room. The large expense devoted 
to this feature of the school is only a recognition of the 



80 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

principle, now so well established, that physical health 
transcends all other considerations in the rearing of chil- 
dren, and that a school must manage its affairs with this 
idea in view." 

The growing interest felt now throughout the country 
in the subject of the food and nutrition of man brings 
about the question : What place should this work take in 
the schools, and to what extent can it be introduced? 

In presenting the history of the movement that brought 
the teaching of cooking into the public schools of New 
York City (see Government Bulletin No. 56, United 
States Department of Agriculture), I endeavored to show 
the pedagogical as well as the practical value of this 
branch of manual training. Doctor True, director of 
the office of experiment stations, says, in regard to the 
subject of instruction in cooking, that this branch of 
manual training, as introduced into public and private 
schools, is steadily increasing in the favor of many school 
officers and of the people who support and patronize the. 
schools. It has been found possible to adjust the rela- 
tions of the practical exercises to the general educational 
features, so as to maintain the interest of pupils in the 
mere routine processes of education, but at the same time 
to furnish them with some degree of practical skill and 
knowledge of direct utility to them in the various indiis- 
tries on which the livelihood of the masses of our popu- 
lation depend. 

Much of this work has been done in cooperation with 
social settlements ; special effort has been made in the 
attempt to acquaint the public with the practical results 
of such work, and such reports show the necessity of a 
more thorough training, from a broad standpoint, of 
teachers of domestic science. They also show to those 
who are vitally interested in the progress of common 
schools in country districts something of the organized 






WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 81 

effort which is being made to adapt the course of instruc- 
tion in our city schools to the actual needs of the children. 

Would it not be possible for all hygiene committees of 
school boards to correlate the cooking school attached 
with the school lunch question as some are doing now? 
Would it not be possible for cooking classes to be held 
at such an hour as to make it practicable to prepare the 
luncheons needed for the children, thus centralizing ef- 
fort, and not only utilise the pedagogical and utilitarian 
value of such training, but also keep in view the eco- 
nomical aspect, while providing the children with what, 
of necessity, would prove of immense benefit when con- 
sidered from every standpoint ? This has been done suc- 
cessfully in several instances. Such concerted work in 
the schools could be made to reach out and meet the 
efforts toward practical issues that are being made by 
associations meant to improve the east side homes in 
New York; the economic associations which do good in 
the tenement districts in New York through classes for 
teaching cooking; the Hartley House work and other 
similar efforts made throughout the United States. 

Professor Button writes also in regard to school gar- 
dens and their corollary, home science teaching, as fol- 
lows: 

"Happy is the child born and nurtured in the country, 
where grass and flowers are his ordinary companions; 
where in field and forest he sees all kinds of life, and is 
daily learning from Mother Nature the rich and subtle 
lesson she has to teach. 

"How difficult in town and city to make up this loss 
to children whose environment is a dreary waste of paved 
streets and houses of brick and stone. A box in the 
window or an occasional bouquet of flowers from the 
greenhouse is but a poor substitute for the grand out-of- 
doors which the country child enjoys. 



82 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

"Surely, a people so wealthy, so intelligent, and so 
generous, will soon devise some means of permitting our 
city children to experience and enjoy Nature in her larger 
and more health-giving phases. The school garden is 
likely to become here, as it already has in Europe, a fea- 
ture of early school life. In many of our larger towns 
and cities it is perfectly feasible to secure vacant lots of 
land at small expense for this purpose. In New York 
the problem seems more difficult. With the transit fa- 
cilities promised for the near future, it may become pos- 
sible to institute weekly or bi-weekly half-days in the 
country for the boys and girls who are old enough to 
go, under the direction of their teachers. Large tracts 
of land should be leased or bought on Long Island, in 
New Jersey, or in Connecticut, for school gardens. These 
gardens should be in charge of competent persons. The 
planting should be widely differentiated, the simpler work 
being done by the younger children, and the more diffi- 
cult and complex by the older. For such municipal effort 
for the betterment of children, trolley cars should be free. 
The vacation school problem would then be largely sim- 
plified, and its value greatly enhanced. Nature study 
would become real and not artificial. The child of the 
tenement house would know the world of his ancestors, 
and would have his choice of life's opportunities greatly 
widened. 

"It is safe to predict that leading the growth of our 
cities out to Nature and up to Nature's God will tend 
to promote health and happiness, and will lessen discom- 
fort and crime." 

Unification of effort and systematic basic work in 
school conditions could easily bring about such a consum- 
mation, and every thinking person must certainly concede 
the necessity for such unification. 

When facing difficulties such as are already granted to 
exist in present food conditions of school children, we 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 83 

must find the quickest and easiest way out of difficulty 
in order to achieve results. Theory must be instantly re- 
duced to practise; the lack of this is one of the crying 
evils of to-day in the study of home science, and a word 
of caution might well be extended to those teachers of 
domestic science who fail to keep the ends in view, the 
material they are dealing with, the means at hand, the 
conditions and fluctuations, the proper selection of means 
and the proper application of means. 

RECIPES 
BROTHS AND SOUPS 

The first point to impress well on the mind in making 
broths and soups is that good material must be used, and 
that the meat must be treated in such a manner as to 
extract the nutritious juices. This can not be done by 
using hot or boiling water, which, incredible as it may 
seem to those who know better, is frequently done. Cold 
salted water must be used, and the meat should be al- 
lowed to soak in the water for several hours before it is 
subjected to heat. Even then it should only simmer 
(not exceeding one hundred and sixty degrees Fahren- 
heit). At the last it may be boiled for one or two hours 
to dissolve the gelatin of the bones, etc., if they are used ; 
but this is not necessary, as chopped lean meat is prefer- 
able for nursery use, and a continued low temperature 
without boiling will produce a very nutritious broth. The 
time for simmering may be regulated by the requirements 
of the household, the minimum time being two hours. 
If the broth is to be used the same day, it is well to have 
the meat delivered at an early hour, as this will allow 
ample time for the entire process before the hour of 
noon-day dinner, using ice for cooling and skimming, 
which must be carefully done. It is preferable, however, 



84 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

to have it made the day previous, as then every particle 
of fat can be removed. Fat plays a very important part 
in children's diet, but it is not to be served floating upon 
poorly made soups. The greatest care should be exer- 
cised in this direction. 

Chopped lean beef or mutton (from the neck prefer- 
ably), a half-pound daily, with one pint of water, differ- 
ent vegetable seasonings, with a little veal added to the 
broth occasionally, should give sufficient variety, with 
the addition of milk and chicken broths, for all require- 
ments. Yet if, for any reason, it is desirable to have 
something different, there are many well-recommended 
recipes from which to select. For children over four- 
teen months of age, rice, tapioca, barley or sago may be 
added to beef or mutton broth, half a tablespoonful to 
the pint, but it must be thoroughly cooked. Different 
vegetables may be added later in the same way, to give 
variety for children over two and a half years old, spin- 
ach, celery, onions and cauliflower being especially use- 
ful from a dietetic standpoint. Macaroni in its various 
forms may also be used as an addition, and makes a 
pleasant change. If, in making broths, the measure given 
is reduced by cooking, add sufficient water to keep to its 
original quantity. When using parsley for seasoning, do 
not mince it in the usual way. Children will frequently 
object to it, and by using a bunch uncut the same result 
will be attained. This applies as well to celery, spinach, 
cauliflower and onions. Children have been educated to 
eat these vegetables without any trouble beyond first in- 
troducing them into some favorite soup, not using too 
much at first, and having even that pressed through a 
puree sieve, gradually increasing the quantity until the 
taste is acquired. This is not always necessary, as in 
some instances the little ones take kindly to and enjoy 
them from the first. The suggestion is given for those 
mothers who find difficulty in getting children of three 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 85 

or four to eat juicy vegetables, which are an important 
adjunct to nursery fare. Doctor Yale says : * "The value 
of these vegetables is not so much from their nutritious- 
ness, which is not very high, as because of the salts they 
contain, and because they are palatable to many. By 
reason of the salts, they are useful as preventives of 
scurvy, a disease, however, not common in childhood, 
except when the diet has been particularly restricted. 
They should all be very thoroughly cooked, and if passed 
through a puree sieve will generally agree. But for some 
digestions, the flatulent tendency of the onions and cauli- 
flower can not be gotten rid of even in this way." 

Cooks should be instructed to save all the water in 
which these vegetables have been boiled (taking it for 
granted that they have previously been properly washed), 
as there is nothing more delicious to add to stock than 
these flavored waters. They can also be utilized in mak- 
ing milk broth, which is nutritious as well as stimulat- 
ing. Many an adult who dislikes milk, hot or cold, 
would be surprised, were he to try it, to find how pal- 
atable a well-seasoned hot milk broth can be, and how 
quickly it drives away that tired feeling, which is the 
natural result of a busy day. 

In making broths or soups, use agate, porcelain or 
earthenware; tin utensils give a bitter taste. A close 
cover is also necessary, to prevent evaporation and to 
keep out the dust. 

The following recipe, given for a nutritious beef broth, 
will prove a comfort to busy mothers, as children rarely 
tire of it, and it can be made in quantity, keeping per- 
fectly in a cool place. There is then very little labor con- 
nected with this portion of the dinner to be prepared 
daily, beyond changing the seasoning from day to day. 
Another point in its favor is that it may be taken from 

* Nursery Problems. 



86 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

a cup or glass ; consequently the busy mother is free to 
attend to the remainder of the dinner, or to take a mo- 
ment's rest while the little ones are enjoying their broth. 
Young children are generally better able to handle a cup 
or glass carefully than a spoon. These things may ap- 
pear trifling to many, but a little rest is a priceless boon 
to a tired mother, who too often pays little attention to 
her own requirements in any direction. 

Beef Broth. — The materials needed are chopped lean 
beef, cold salted water, in the proportion of a pound of 
meat to a quart of water for children two and three years 
of age, and a pint of water and one large onion cut into 
pieces for children over three. Soak the meat, and onion, 
if used, in cold water for two hours at least (six is bet- 
ter) in the vessel in which it is to be cooked, keeping 
it on ice or in a cool place during this time. Then set 
it upon the back of the range, or, if it is to be made upon 
a gas, alcohol or oil stove, use a double boiler, and keep 
the heat moderate by regulating the flame. Keep the 
vessel covered and allow the broth to simmer, keeping 
up the original quantity of water for three hours at least. 
Let it cool overnight, remove the fat in the morning, and 
keep covered in a cool place until needed. If this is done, 
and the entire quantity is reheated to the boiling-point 
every time that some of it is used, it can be kept in winter 
for several days. 

The variety of seasoning should be considered when 
preparing the dinner for the general household, as labor 
is thus economized. For instance, if spinach is to be 
cooked for late dinner, a portion of it pressed through 
a puree sieve, with some of the water in which it was 
boiled, should be saved for the children's broth next day, 
care being taken to have it put on ice in china, glass, or 
agate, closely covered. (Spinach, to be delicate, must 
be boiled rapidly in a large quantity of water.) There 
will be no danger of the little ones growing tired of an 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 87 

endless succession of plain meat broths, if the vegetables 
allowable are used in this way for variety. 

Alternate the above for children over three years of 
age with any of the following soups, as they may fill in 
with the general household cooking; but it is advisable 
to have the beef broth on hand at all times, to be pro- 
vided for emergencies. 

Milk Soup. — Ingredients required : one pint of milk, 
one quart of boiling water, two onions, salt, a teaspoon- 
ful of butter, one heaping teaspoonful of flour. 

Boil the onions tender, and press through a puree sieve 
into the water in which they were boiled, using an agate 
saucepan, adding sufficient boiling water to make a quart. 
Season with salt, add the milk, rub the butter and flour 
together, and stir into the soup, bringing it to the boil- 
ing-point, stirring all the time. Serve hot, as a tepid milk 
soup is abominable. By the time the children are ready 
to take it the temperature will be about right. This soup 
may be varied in endless ways with the vegetable waters 
indicated above, or with vegetables, chopped oysters, 
chicken jelly, etc. 

Chicken Broth. — Cut up a fowl (not a young chicken) 
into small pieces, rejecting the fat and skin unless the 
latter is white and tender, cover with cold water and 
simmer gently for six hours. Cool overnight and re- 
move the fat. A four-pound chicken will make two 
quarts of broth. A little gelatin dissolved in every cup- 
ful is useful in cases of convalescence, especially during 
digestive difficulties, and it may be used generally in the 
nursery. The broth may also be thickened with corn 
starch, flour or arrowroot. 

Chicken milk is a particularly delicate preparation and 
can be made readily from the above if the broth has jel- 
lied. If not, it must be further reduced. Put in a sauce- 
pan a stalk of white celery and a stalk (not cut) of pars- 
ley with a little salt, add a pint of the chicken jelly with 



88 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

some of the meat and boil until it falls from the bones. 
Strain and add the same quantity of fresh milk, presup- 
posing that the pint of chicken broth has been kept in- 
tact. Bring this to the boiling-point several times and 
strain into a cup. This is very nutritious, and forms a 
slight variety. 

Barley Broth.— Take the best end of a neck of mut- 
ton or lamb, cover with two quarts of cold water and 
add a teacupful of crushed barley. Let it stand upon 
the back of a hot range for an hour, then move it for- 
ward, adding at this time the vegetables desired, cut into 
small pieces, and let it simmer for five hours. 

Cool overnight. Skim and season with salt. It is al- 
most impossible to skim mutton broth thoroughly unless 
it has stood overnight. Any one trying to do so will be 
easily convinced of the truth of this statement. 

Beef Juice. — Remove all fat and tissue from a half- 
pound of lean beef ; broil over a clear fire from six to 
eight minutes ; cut the meat into small pieces and squeeze 
out the juice with a meat-press or lemon-squeezer. Add 
salt. When warming, put the juice into a cup and set it 
in hot water, that it may not coagulate, as it will do 
if heated in the ordinary manner. 

Beef Essence. — Put one pound of chopped lean beef, 
with a little salt, in a glass fruit-jar and see that the cover 
is tight. Place it in the oven in a pan of water or in an 
ordinary steamer and cook four to five hours. Strain 
the essence through a very coarse strainer. 

Beef or Mutton Tea.— This recipe is adapted from 
Burnet, and is efficacious in cases of anemia. One pound 
of chopped beef or one and one-half pounds of lean mut- 
ton (chopped) ; no gristle or fat; ten drops of hydro- 
chloric acid and a pint of water. Put the beef and acid 
in the water and keep it covered in a cool place for at 
least six hours, or overnight if possible. Simmer for 
two hours, strain and salt. Remove all fat when cool. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 89 

It may be used cold, or, if desired, it may be heated in a 
cup in warm water. 

Veal Broth. — Veal broth is nutritious, and is the 
only form in which to use veal in the nursery. Use one- 
half pound of minced lean veal to one pint of salted cold 
water. Let it stand four hours, then simmer slowly (it 
should not reach the boiling-point) for two hours, strain 
through a coarse sieve and skim when cool. 

Mutton and Veal Broth. — Use one pound of meat, 
half mutton and half veal, to a pint of cold salted water 
and proceed as above. Barley or rice may be added, a 
tablespoonful of either, well-boiled. Milk thickened with 
flour is a pleasant addition to the above or to plain mut- 
ton broth. 

Chicken Broth. — Cut up a chicken, bones and all, 
into small pieces, put them over the fire in cold water, 
add a little salt and simmer for six hours. Cool, remove 
the fat and keep the jelly covered in a cool place. This 
yields a very strengthening soup, which may be made the 
base of many a delicate dish for children or invalids, and 
is desirable for school luncheons. 

Chicken Custard. — Use chicken broth instead of 
milk, with beaten eggs, in the same manner as when 
making cup custard, seasoning with salt instead of sugar. 
Serve cold or warm, with or without thickened chicken 
broth. 

Burnet strongly advises the thickening of broths with 
arrowroot, boiled flour, etc. They may also be thickened 
with gelatin. Chicken broth is especially nice when done 
in this way. It should frequently be done for school 
children. 

Milk Soup. — One cupful of potatoes mashed and 
seasoned with salt. The yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, 
creamed with quarter of a cup of butter; one quart of 
milk brought just to boiling-point, but not boiled. Stir 
into this one large tablespoonful of flour; stir quickly to 



90 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

avoid lumps; strain and then serve in very hot, pretty 
little soup bowls for children's noonday dinner. 

Oyster Broth, — Chop six fresh oysters and heat 
them in an agate saucepan, letting the liquor which ex- 
udes from the oysters come to a boil. Add a very little 
hot water, season and serve after straining. This is very 
nice with buttered crackers. 

Clam Broth. — 1. Put a few well-washed clams in a 
clean pan in a hot oven, or in a steamer over a hot fire. 
When they open, drain off the liquor and add an equal 
quantity of hot water. Season to taste and thicken with 
grated cracker, if desired, or serve plain with buttered 
crackers. 

2. Take about a half dozen or more clams, save and 
add the juice, remove objectionable parts from the clams 
and cut them in small pieces ; add half-pint of cold water, 
let them boil slowly for ten minutes, strain and season 
with pepper and salt, add a little butter and milk if you 
like. 

Potato Soup. — Peel one dozen potatoes and one 
onion and cut them into small pieces. Cook them tender 
in a quart and pint of beef-stock, plain water or vege- 
table water and rub the potato through a puree sieve. 
Add salt and a half-pint of hot cream. Beat lightly and 
serve with bits of zwieback or dry toasted bread broken 
into small bits into the soup plate. 

Savory Jelly (adapted from Burnet). — Take half a 
chicken, one pound of neck of veal, one pound of lean 
beef (from under the shoulder is the best part for beef 
tea, etc.). Separate the joints of the chicken, then cut 
all the meat — beef, veal and chicken — into very small 
pieces ; put the whole into an earthen covered vessel with 
two quarts of water and enough salt to season; stew 
gently in the oven for five or six hours ; skim, strain and 
keep cool. This is a very nutritious jelly. 

Roast Beef Gravy. — The thick brown essence in the 






WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 91 

pan, called ozmazome, should be dissolved in a little water 
after the fat has been poured off. It may then be thick- 
ened and seasoned in the usual manner. Gravy made 
from meats fried in fat in the ordinary way must not be 
used for children. 

A Home-Made Meat Powder. — Doctor W. R. Hug- 
gard (Muenchener Medicinische Wochenschrift) gives 
a convenient method of preparing a powder from meat 
to be used as a nutrient. Lean meat is cut into small 
pieces ; these are dipped into boiling fat for a few min- 
utes, until the surface is browned, then taken out and 
drained on a sieve. They are then cut into fine pieces 
and dried in an oven for twenty-four hours with a slow 
fire. The meat thereby becomes dry and brittle, and may 
be easily ground in a coffee-mill. By this process of roast- 
ing it has lost four-fifths of its weight. This meat pow- 
der has a pleasant taste, and may be used in various 
ways, as in hot water, mixed with mashed potato, on 
bread and butter, as a sandwich, in soup, milk broths, 
etc. It is very easily digested, is tolerated by the most 
delicate stomach, and may be kept for a long time if dry 
and excluded from the air. 

Egg Custards Without Milk. — Ingredients required: 
four eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, the juice of an 
orange or a lemon or a teaspoonful of vanilla. 

Beat the yolks well with the sugar and pour them into 
a double boiler. Stir over the fire until the mixture 
thickens, then add the flavoring and the whites of the 
eggs, which should have been previously beaten to a froth. 
Stir a few minutes longer and pour into a mold and cool. 
These custards may be made also with salt, meat juice, 
celery or chicken broth, for a pleasant variation. Inas- 
much as there is always great demand for new dishes 
that are not sweet, it may be well to remember that this 
plan may be followed with tapioca, sago, rice and many 
other farinaceous foods that are generally used in sweet 



92 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

pudding if used at all. It requires very little originality 
to make a palatable and wholesome dish of any of the 
above-mentioned articles without following the stereo- 
typed plan of sweetening and flavoring. The following 
recipe is an illustration of this method : 

Tapioca with Chicken or Meat Jelly. — Wash one- 
half cup of tapioca and put it into a double boiler with 
one-half cup of cold water. Let it absorb the water, then 
add a pint of chicken broth, milk jelly, or any meat in- 
fusion and cook until the tapioca is soft and clear. Sea- 
son with salt and mold. Serve hot or cold as preferred. 
For another change, a well-beaten egg may be stirred 
into the tapioca when it is taken from the fire. These 
molds are very appetizing when served with a little of the 
same broth or essence that has been used in making the 
jelly, if thickened and daintily seasoned. 

A Recipe for Invalids as Given by the Late Doctor 
S. Weir Mitchell. — For about a pint of good, rich milk, 
take one good fresh egg (if you can get it) ; while the 
milk is heating to the boiling-point heat the egg in a good- 
sized bowl very lightly (yolk and white together) ; pour 
the boiling milk into the egg, stirring all the time to insure 
a smooth custard ; add a bit of salt, with sugar and nut- 
meg and brandy, if you like it and need it. The milk is 
said in this way to cook the egg just enough to render it 
digestible. We have known and used this recipe in oft- 
repeated sickness, as well as in health, and can testify to 
its worth. 

A Savory Breakfast Custard. — Fill a custard cup 
lightly with bread-crumbs, and, if convenient, add a little 
minced chicken. It is equally' good without. Beat an 
egg, add a little meat, season and pour the mixture into 
the cup over the crumbs. Bake in the oven in a pan of 
hot water for but a few minutes, as eggs must be but 
lightly cooked to be digestible. 

Poached Eggs. — To poach eggs, drop them in steam- 






WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 93 

ing water that has just stopped boiling, having added suf- 
ficient salt to taste before putting the water on to boil. 
Set the water containing the eggs back upon the stove. 
From five to eight minutes will cook them sufficiently. 
Eggs poached in this way and served on toast are fur- 
ther improved by the addition of chicken broth slightly 
thickened. 

CEREALS 

The following cereals are all suitable for nursery use : 
granulated or crushed wheat, which is an all-year-round 
food, possessing no fat, and requiring cream to make it 
a perfect winter food; cornmeal, a winter food, which 
builds up strong tissues and is useful in constipation; 
purified or cooked gluten, the latter of which is always 
ready for use; oat flour, from which a delicious blanc- 
mange can be made ; crushed barley, which, when prop- 
erly cooked in milk or water, is an easily digested nurs- 
ery food, and when mixed with gluten, half and half, 
stirred into cold water, and afterward well cooked, is 
extremely palatable ; farina, which, when subjected to 
high heat in preparation, becomes a desirable and nu- 
tritious food, used either as a gruel, a porridge, or in 
desserts. 

The list of cereal preparations to be found for sale is 
endless, but one need not go far to find a few perfectly 
prepared foods of this class that are assimilable when 
properly cooked, and which will supply the needs of 
growing children in variety as well as in constituents. 
Being heat-producers, they should be used carefully in 
warm weather; white hominy, rice, gluten, barley, rye 
and wheat preparations are the most desirable, as they 
possess little or no fat. 

Oatmeal Gruel. — Four tablespoonfuls of rolled oats, 



94 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

one-half teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of sugar 
(if directed by the physician), two cupfuls of boiling 
water, two cupfuls of hot milk (or four cupfuls of water 
and no milk). Pour the boiling water on the oatmeal, 
salt and sugar, if used, and cook in a double boiler for 
three hours, or cook in an agate saucepan for one hour, 
stirring frequently, if a saucepan is used, and adding 
water to the original quantity. Strain to remove the hulls 
and add the hot milk, bringing all to the boiling-point. 
If no milk is used, add all the water in the beginning. 

Oatmeal and Graham Flour Gruel. — Two tablespoon- 
fuls of oatmeal and two of Graham flour, with salt, a 
pint of water and a quart of milk, make a pleasant 
change in gruels. Cook the water, salt and meal for one 
hour in a double boiler or steamer ; then add a quart of 
milk, and scald or steam, according to the vessel used, 
for a few minutes only. Strain and keep cool. 

If gruels are to be malted they need not be cooked so 
long as for ordinary use. One hour in a double boiler, 
or half an hour in a saucepan, is sufficient. 

Barley Gruel may be made in the same way as oat- 
meal gruel, using barley that has been ground fine in a 
coffee-mill. 

Farina Gruel is made in the proportion of two table- 
spoonfuls of farina to two cupfuls of water and two of 
milk, with salt to season ; but it does not need long cook- 
ing, as it is partly prepared. Half an hour is enough for 
the whole process. 

Cream Gruel. — For cream gruel take two-thirds of 
a pint of milk and one-third of real cream; the milk 
must be new; boil these together. If cream will not 
stand the test of scalding it is not fit for use; rub a 
tablespoonful of sifted flour to a smooth paste in a little 
cold milk, stir in and let boil two or three minutes. 
Add a mite of salt, with sugar and vanilla flavor, if 
desired. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 95 

Browned Flour Gruel. — This can be made by same 
rule as the above, leaving out cream, though it is better 
with it. To brown the flour, take a clean cast-iron pan, 
as it is thicker and less liable to burn than the ordinary- 
pan, put in about a pint of sifted wheat flour, or less, if 
you are not used to the work ; begin stirring with an old 
spoon as soon as it is hot and continue slowly, being 
careful to have it a nice chestnut brown when done. 
This can be bottled and kept for weeks. Use as much 
as will make it as thick as ordinary gruel. The best 
medical authorities recommend it highly for nutrition 
and digestion, being especially useful in summer diseases 
of stomach and bowels. 

Arrowroot Gruel. — One tablespoonful of arrowroot, 
one-half teaspoonful of salt, one cupful of milk. Wet 
the arrowroot with a little cold water, add a cupful of 
boiling water and boil ten minutes ; then add the milk 
and bring again to the boiling-point. Strain and keep 
cool. 

Malted Gruel. (Adapted from Thompson.) — Gruel 
should be well boiled and kept free from lumps, using a. 
strainer if necessary. When cool enough to swallow, 
add a tablespoonful of malt extract to a pint of gruel. 
In a few minutes the gruel will become thin from the 
conversion of the starch into maltose. All farinaceous 
foods can be treated in this way. 

Oatmeal Porridge. — Three tablespoonfuls of rolled, 
ground or crushed oats, one pint of boiling water, one- 
quarter teaspoonful of salt. Steam for two hours or 
longer in a double boiler. 

Oatmeal porridge is very appetizing when served cold 
in mold shapes, and it will frequently be eaten in this 
way when it would be refused if served in any other 
form. Variations may be made by using farina, cracked 
wheat, browned rice (browned in the oven before steam- 
ing and molding), hominy, arrowroot, etc., giving fur- 



96 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

ther change for older children by serving occasionally 
with fruit juice instead of cream or milk. 

Wheat Porridge requires two tablespoon fuls of wheat 
to a pint of salted water, and it should be thoroughly 
boiled or steamed in a double boiler, two hours being the 
shortest time to be allowed for the cooking of any por- 
ridge. 

Hominy requires the same proportions, and should 
be cooked for the same length of time. 

Cornmeal Mush (to be used warm or molded, for 
supper or breakfast, with milk or a little good sirup) 
should be cooked very carefully in a double boiler or 
steamer for the time given for the cooking of all cereal 
porridges, and it should be free from lumps when done. 
A very good plan to follow when cooking cornmeal or 
bran mush is to sprinkle the meal into a saucepan of 
boiling water from a fine sifter, stirring all the time, be- 
fore putting it into the steamer, as freedom from lumps 
depends on the even admixture of the water and the 
meal. 

Farina Porridge requires three tablespoonfuls of 
farina to a pint of hot salted water, and should be cooked 
at least an hour in the steamer or double boiler. 

Oatmeal Blanc-Mange. — Put one pint of water and 
half a teaspoonful of salt into the upper part of a double 
boiler, and, when the water begins to boil, sprinkle into 
it a scant teacupful of rolled oats ; let boil briskly for two 
or three minutes, and then let it steam for five or six 
hours. Strain through a fine soup strainer, leaving all 
the husks behind ; then stir into it one-half pint of scalded 
milk. Add white sugar to taste, stir over the fire for a 
few minutes, flavor with vanilla extract, put into cold 
wet molds and set on the ice or a very cold place to 
harden. Serve with cream. Two whipped eggs can be 
added if desired before turning the mixture into the 
molds. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 97 

This blanc-mange is very good to give to an invalid. 

Oat Jelly. (Rotch.) — Four ounces of coarse oatmeal 
are allowed to soak in a quart of cold water for twelve 
hours. The mixture is then boiled down so as to make 
a pint and is strained through a fine cloth while it is hot. 
When it cools a jelly is formed, which is to be kept on 
ice until needed. Different proportions of this jelly can 
be used, but usually it is best to begin with equal parts 
of jelly and cow's milk. When needed, this mixture is 
warmed and a little salt is added. 

MUFFINS, BREAD, ETC. 

Cream Muffins. — To make one dozen, beat up one 
egg very light; mix it with four tablespoonfuls of rich 
sweet cream, a little salt, and a scant half-cupful of milk. 
Sift in slowly one and a quarter cupfuls of whole-meal 
flour and two teaspoonfuls of a well-selected baking- 
powder. Bake in a very quick oven (about fifteen min- 
utes should suffice), putting very little batter into each 
muffin-pan, that the muffins may puff up and be nearly all 
crust, as they should undoubtedly be for the children's 
table. 

Graham and Cornmeal Muffins may be made in the 
same way, using Graham or corn flour in the place of 
whole-meal flour. 

Cornmeal Muffins are delicious when made with 
half cornmeal and half hominy (breakfast hominy, well 
cooked). Stir a teaspoonful of good butter into three- 
quarters of a cup of hot hominy ; add the egg, salt, cream 
and milk ; then stir in three-quarters of a cupful of corn 
flour and the baking-powder and bake as directed above, 
remembering to keep the mixture of a consistency to 
pour easily, as in this way the muffins will be light and 
crusty, instead of heavy and indigestible. 

Cornmeal Mush. — Cornmeal is not used nearly so 



98 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

much as it should be in the homes where there are young 
children. It is very wholesome for any one, young or 
old ; and children often like it at breakfast, with cream. 

To make cornmeal mush, take a pint of cornmeal 
mixed with a pint of milk and a teaspoonful of salt; 
put this into nearly a quart of boiling water, let it boil 
half an hour or longer, stirring often. Cook in a double 
boiler or a boiler with a copper bottom. 

Bread. — Well-made home-made bread is infinitely 
preferable to ordinary baker's bread. It should be at 
least one day old and should be thoroughly baked. 

The gluten advised above absorbs more water than 
ordinary starchy flours and needs less yeast. Brewer's 
yeast, which gives a good flavor on account of the hops 
used, or good home-made yeast, is not undesirable, but 
in these busy days no one need hesitate to save time and 
trouble by using the commercial compressed yeast of 
deservedly good repute, as it answers every purpose. 
Heated milk may be used for mixing instead of water, 
if preferred, but a very good bread may be made very 
easily, as follows, according to a recipe given by a cook 
who learned her art in Ireland. Her method reverses 
the usual directions in regard to the temperature of the 
oven, which, judging from the delicious results, is a very 
sensible procedure. The ease with which the bread is 
made will commend it to the busy housewife. Begin in 
the morning: 

Flour, three quarts, sifted in a large bowl ; 

Salt, two heaping tablespoon fuls ; 

Sugar, four heaping tablespoonfuls ; 

Water, or milk and water, two quarts, lukewarm; 

Yeast, one cake ; 

Lard, three heaping tablespoonfuls. 

Put the salt, sugar and lard into the flour, and rub the 
lard fine by crumbling it lightly between the hands. Use 
warmed flour, especially in winter. Flour should always 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 99 

be warm for best results in baking. A good plan is to 
keep constantly on hand near the fire a bag or covered 
pan of well-dried flour for bread, cake or biscuit. Dis- 
solve the yeast in the warm water and pour it over the 
flour, mixing with the hands ; then sift in gradually a 
quart or more of flour, adding until the dough can be 
turned out on the board. Knead lightly from ten to fif- 
teen minutes, adding flour until the loaf does not stick 
to the board. Put it back in the bowl, cover lightly and 
let it rise in a temperature of about seventy-five degrees 
Fahrenheit for three hours. Cut into loaves and put 
into buttered pans, letting them rise on the rack above 
the range, or in a place of equal temperature, for half 
an hour, when they will be ready to be placed in a mod- 
erately quick oven. After half an hour, as the bread 
rises in the oven, increase the heat slowly to the end of 
the time required to bake the loaves. The time to be 
allowed for baking an average-sized loaf is one and a 
quarter hours. The usual plan in baking bread is to be- 
gin with a temperature of four hundred degrees Fahren- 
heit, gradually lowering to two hundred and fifty de- 
grees Fahrenheit, with the frequent result of a loaf of 
bread that is soggy in the inside and very hard on the 
outside. In the above method the reverse is the case. 
The result should be dry, well-baked, evenly browned 
loaves of bread, that still retain enough moisture to keep 
them as they should be. 

The use of bread made from the whole grain meal 
should be encouraged for children, for the following rea- 
sons: they must be restricted in a meat diet, therefore 
such bread supplies a much-needed addition; it contains 
forty instead of twenty per cent, of gluten and contains 
twice as large a proportion of certain salts — chiefly phos- 
phates — as white bread ; it contains also the laxative fatty 
matter on which great dependence is placed when ar- 
ranging a dietary for children. 



100 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

Points to remember in buying flour and baking bread 
are that a good bread flour does not cake in the hand 
when squeezed, that kneading must be done lightly, to 
keep the bread porous, and that the temperature for the 
rising of the sponge should be from seventy to eighty 
degrees Fahrenheit, not higher. 

The use of bread may begin in the nursery as early as 
twelve months, if a sufficient number of teeth are pres- 
ent, which should be the case at this age. Doctor Rotch 
says, "Good butter on the bread may usually be allowed 
at sixteen months." 

In some form, at the ages indicated, bread or biscuit 
should be given at each meal — i. e., stale bread or crust 
of French bread, zwieback, toast and Graham bread, or 
soda, oatmeal, Graham, gluten, or educator biscuit. These 
are all permissible when they can be chewed thoroughly. 
Oatmeal and Graham biscuit belong to laxative foods, 
and should be used accordingly. Jerome Walker, M. D., 
says in regard to this subject that "probably, with the 
exception of candy, no article that is eaten is so much 
abused as the animal-cracker. Before these crackers were 
introduced children were content with a few butter, soda, 
milk, or even ordinary sweet crackers at one time, but 
now the child is anxious to eat a number of animals. 
The cracker-maker, detecting this propensity in children, 
furnishes a wonderful assortment of animals, and the 
child is eager to eat one, at least, of each kind purchased. 
The mother thinks these animals are so nice for the chil- 
dren to play with that frequently she sends out for a half- 
pound or a pound, and she often gives all to the child to 
keep him quiet as he is trundled along in his carriage. 
What is the consequence of so much sugar and starch? 
It perverts the appetite, teaches the child to reject soups, 
broths, bread and butter, and milk, and to prefer sweets 
and pastries, and also induces starchy dyspepsia." 

The use of zwieback (twice-baked bread) can be thor- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 101 

oughly recommended. It possesses the advantage of be- 
ing more easily digested than ordinary bread on account 
of the double baking. 

The following recipe may be used for zwieback, for a 
change from that made from ordinary home-made bread : 

Moravian Cake. — This is best when started in the 
morning, unless the last rising can be attended to very 
early in the morning. If this can be done, set the sponge 
about five o'clock in the evening, using one cup of pota- 
toes mashed in one cup of the water in which they were 
boiled, one cup of sugar, one-half cake of yeast dissolved 
in a little warm water, with flour enough to make a thick 
batter. Cover and keep in a warm place (about eighty 
degrees Fahrenheit) ; beat occasionally during the eve- 
ning, and at ten or eleven o'clock mix in the batter one 
cup of sugar, three eggs and three-quarters of a cup of 
lard and butter, a pinch of cinnamon and enough flour to 
stiffen, kneading it well into a dough that will not stick 
to the sides of the bowl. Leave it well covered, in a tem- 
perature of seventy degrees to seventy-five degrees Fah- 
renheit, until early in the morning, shape into loaves or 
any form desired, let rise for half an hour, spread the 
cake with a sauce made of a cup of sugar, one tablespoon- 
ful of hot water, a small piece of butter and enough cin- 
namon to darken the sauce, and bake in a moderate oven. 

The above may be used as sweet bread, cake or toast. 
By cutting it into thin slices, buttering it lightly and 
browning delicately in the oven, you have a delicious 
change for the frequently stereotyped nursery menu. 

A word of caution should be heeded when making 
toast. It should be done in such a manner as to dry it 
thoroughly in the middle before browning takes place. 
Soggy, quickly made toast is decidedly not allowable in 
the nursery. 

A simple sponge or tea cake may be used occasionally, 
when given with moderation to children over five, either 



102 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

in the form of lady-fingers, or as the ordinary sponge or 
tea cake made by the average cook. It must be well 
baked, not fresh, and should be just as light and porous 
as good bread should be, not notably moist, nor rich, 
nor full of fruit. 

Meats, — The best portions of beef for nursery use 
are from the loin for broiling, and from the neck, rump, 
or first and second cut of the round for other uses, which 
will be indicated. This selection is independent of joints 
for roasting or boiling. Either a sirloin, porterhouse or 
tenderloin steak is most suitable for broiling, and it 
should be cut from one to two inches thick — two inches is 
better — to keep the meat juicy. Trim off the fat, wipe 
with a clean damp cloth, place in a heated wire broiler 
which has been greased to prevent sticking and hold 
directly over a glowing bed of coals. A live fire is neces- 
sary, not one that has begun to cool. The steak should 
be turned five or six times during the first minute, that 
the outer sealing may be quickly done ; then the broiler 
must be held farther away and the meat finished more 
slowly, turning at this stage once every half minute until 
the meat is done. It should be pink and juicy inside, but 
not raw. Seven to ten minutes over a good fire will 
usually cook to perfection a steak from an inch and a 
half to two inches thick. Have the plate upon which it 
is to be served warm (not hot), season the meat with salt 
and use care in handling it that the surface may not be 
broken and the juice lost. For nursery use, salt is the 
only condiment allowable. Never use melted butter on 
the meat; all the butter required by children should be 
taken as cold as possible upon the bread that is eaten, 
not upon meat or vegetables (except in cream sauce, as 
indicated elsewhere), if freedom from indigestion is de- 
sired. When broiling thin steaks, or a tenderloin which 
may not be very juicy or of good flavor, it is a good 
plan to lay a thin piece of round steak upon both sides 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 103 

of the tenderloin before broiling, and thus get a delicious 
steak, discarding the outer pieces, the juice of which has 
entered the middle steak. 

Cooked scraped beef makes an acceptable change, or 
raw, when allowed by the family physician, and it may be 
used at an earlier age than meat is usually given. Use 
a thick cut from the tender part of the round or rump, 
scrape off the pulp with a silver knife, rejecting the 
tough fiber and mold it into cakes about an inch thick; 
then broil on an oyster broiler as you would an ordinary 
steak. When for any reason it is inconvenient or impos- 
sible to broil a steak or scraped meat, heat thoroughly a 
thick iron or steel pan, sprinkle salt over it to prevent 
sticking, and cook the meat in the same manner as if 
using a solid broiler, turning with a knife or spoon, not 
a fork, that no juice may escape. Turn quickly at first 
and have the pan scorching hot, then moderate the heat 
and finish more slowly. Very good results may be ob- 
tained in this way. Do not put fat into the pan, as is so 
frequently done. 

The above directions apply as well to the broiling or 
panning of lamb- and mutton-chops, which should be cut 
thick and be well trimmed. It requires from four to six 
minutes to cook a chop one inch thick. 

Boiled Meats. — When boiled meat is desired, use 
water that is boiling rapidly to seal the meat, as one of 
the first results of putting meat into water that does not 
boil is that some of the valuable ingredients of the meat 
pass into the water. By having the water boiling rapidly 
this is prevented, and by continuing the boiling for five 
minutes the meat has a protective covering formed about 
it that keeps it juicy and nutritious. It should then be 
cooked at a considerably lower temperature, about one 
hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit. It may be a 
little higher, but should not be much less. This method 
applies to boiling poultry whole, as well as to beef, lamb 



104 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

or mutton. When boiling beef, allow from twenty to 
forty minutes to the pound, according to the quality of 
the beef. For a boiled leg of lamb or mutton, allow fif- 
teen minutes to the pound. 

Meat Stews. — A dainty and wholesome little meat 
stew may be made for the nursery as follows : cut a 
tender piece of beef, lamb or mutton into small squares, 
rejecting all fat; just cover it with boiling water and 
allow it to simmer until very tender, adding in the begin- 
ning either a bit of onion, a sprig of parsley, a stalk of 
celery, a few leaves of spinach, or a few small pieces 
of cauliflower for flavoring, and add a very few small 
squares of potato; season with salt when nearly done. 
If the child for whom this is prepared likes the vege- 
tables mentioned, and is old enough, they may simply 
be cut into small pieces ; if not, they should be pressed, 
when tender, through a puree sieve. Zwieback, broken 
into small pieces (mere crumbs), is a very nice addition 
to either a stew of this description or to the broths which 
frequently take the place of meat for very young chil- 
dren just beginning on a mixed diet. A stew of this 
character, a dish of spaghetti, good bread and butter 
and some light dessert, like cup custard, will make a sat- 
isfactory dinner menu for a four-year-old. The stew in 
this menu supplies the salt-giving food required. 

Roast Beef. — Roast beef, when used for children, 
should be rare and lean, with dish gravy from which all 
fat has been removed. If best results are desired, when 
roasting either beef, mutton or fowl, see that the oven 
is very hot to begin with, cooling it slightly after the 
sealing of the surface has been done ; then baste care- 
fully, or use a double pan, allowing fifteen minutes to a 
pound for rare meats, twenty for well done. 

Sweetbreads. — Genuine sweetbreads are allowable 
in the nursery as well as in invalid dietaries, as they are 
readily digested. They must be prepared in a manner suit- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 105 

able for children. As soon as they come from the market 
they should be cleaned and parboiled. To clean, cut off all 
fat, bruised parts, etc., and wash quickly in cold water; 
boil in a granite saucepan from fifteen to twenty minutes, 
using boiling salted water at first ; then -cool and put away 
until needed. To complete cooking them for children, 
cut them into small squares and stew them carefully in 
a sauce prepared as follows: rub a teaspoonful of good 
butter into a tablespoonful of flour, using one cup of 
milk or cream; heat the milk in a double boiler, add the 
thickening (stirring it in carefully), the sweetbreads and 
a little salt. Stir continuously until both sauce and sweet- 
breads are cooked, which will be in about fifteen minutes 
— in ten if made in a single saucepan. The double one 
is preferable, as it prevents scorching. Any sauce con- 
taining milk and flour should be made in a double boiler 
or in a saucepan fitted into the top of a tea-kettle. Care 
must be taken to cook the sweetbreads the required time 
only, as longer cooking is likely to harden them. French 
peas, if tender, may be used with these for children over 
five when digestion is normal. A little beef broth, sweet- 
breads, either prepared as above or broiled, with peas or 
stewed celery, bread and butter, boiled rice and a simple 
dessert would be a satisfactory menu for the age men- 
tioned. 

Eggs. — Eggs are a desirable substitute for meat at 
any time, and as an article of diet, when properly cooked, 
give concentrated nutriment. They may be prepared in 
a variety of ways, with or without the addition of other 
foods, but for nursery use the plain boiled egg is most 
desirable. Care must be taken to have them perfectly 
fresh, as it is of great importance that stale eggs should 
not be used. A fresh egg will sink in salt water (one 
tablespoonful of salt to ten of water) and in proportion 
to its age it approaches the surface. Every woman thinks 
she can cook an egg, no matter how unskilled she may be 



106 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

in other branches of cooking, yet it is perhaps the least 
understood of all processes of making foods digestible by 
proper treatment. The usual method is to drop the egg 
in boiling water, which is allowed to continue boiling for 
two, three or four minutes, according to the taste of the 
consumer. The result is either an almost raw egg or one 
with a hard white and uncooked yellow, and, generally 
speaking, the whole egg, when cooked in this way, is 
tough and indigestible, unless it is eaten almost raw. 
Sufficient boiling water (about a quart) should be set 
aside for a few moments, when it will be of the tempera- 
ture required. It should then be poured over several 
eggs in a good-sized saucepan, which should be covered 
and set back upon the range from eight to twelve min- 
utes, according to whether they are liked very soft or 
not. These eggs are milky-looking, soft, cooked all the 
way through and are easily digested. Doctor Thompson 
gives an excellent way for cooking eggs, as suggested by 
Henry.* Immerse a teacup in boiling water until it be- 
comes thoroughly heated. It is then removed and the 
egg is broken and dropped into it, and the cup may be 
wrapped in a cloth. Sufficient heat is retained by it to 
cook the egg without water and to remove any raw taste. 

The white of egg, when eaten raw, diluted with water 
or milk, is easily absorbed, and is a valuable food in gas- 
tric disorders. 

Fish. — Fish, if fresh and of the right kind, is an ex- 
cellent food for the nursery. It is of great nutritive 
value and is less stimulating than meat. Being digested 
more rapidly, it is necessary to consider this when esti- 
mating quantities for a child's dinner. A larger portion 
should be served than would be given if meat were used. 
Broths should always be used after five years to supple- 
ment a child's dinner when fish is given instead of meat. 

* W. Gilman Thompson, M.D., Practical Dietetics. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 107 

Children who are unable to take much active exercise 
should have fish and broths more frequently than meat, 
as fish is especially indicated for persons of sedentary 
habits. 

Fish should be scaled and cleaned as soon as they come 
from market, washed quickly and put in a cool place, not 
on ice, but near it, if possible. The white-fleshed fish 
are the only kind to be considered in this connection and 
the flesh should be firm and hard. If it is flabby it is un- 
fit for use for child or adult. The German method of 
selling fish alive might well be introduced in this country. 

For nursery use it may be boiled, creamed, baked or 
broiled — never fried. It should be served plain, or with 
a sauce made of cream or milk as directed for sweet- 
breads. The well-beaten yolk of an egg may be added 
to this sauce after removing from the fire. 

To cream fish it must be flaked, the bones removed 
very carefully, and then boiled gently for twenty min- 
utes, seasoned with salt and added to the cream sauce 
mentioned. 

For broiling, turn the flesh side to the fire first, then 
the skin, taking care not to scorch the latter, which is 
very quickly done if care is not taken. 

Oysters. — The soft part of oysters may be freely 
used in the nursery for children over three years of age. 
They are very nutritious, and are greatly desired as an 
appetizer and for variety. The soft part is easily di- 
gested and may be given raw to any child who takes 
meat and broths. The juice may be given earlier, in 
small quantity, but it is a frequent occurrence for a child 
under five to refuse to eat oysters offered in any way. 
They are a very acceptable addition to an ordinary milk 
soup when chopped fine, after the hard part has been 
removed. Care must be exercised as to season ; they are 
frequently placed on the market before they are in good 
condition, and just as frequently they are kept for sale 



108 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

longer than is desirable. The season is supposed to be 
from September to April, but it is safer, for children, to 
consider it from October to March, unless cold weather 
has come early or continues exceptionally late. 

Squabs, Chicken, etc.- — Squabs, partridge, pheasant, 
chicken and turkey may be used alternately with beef 
and mutton menus for dinner after five years. Squabs 
and chickens should be stewed or broiled and the most 
tender parts selected for young children ; the white meat 
of roast chicken or turkey may be given, if minced fine, 
to children under five about three times a week. Part- 
ridge and pheasant should be broiled and the breast used 
in the same way. 

Creamed Chicken. — Two cups of cold chicken cut 
into small pieces, one cup of chicken stock, one cup of 
milk or cream, two tablespoonfuls of butter, one heaping 
tablespoon ful of flour, salt and pepper. Cook the butter 
and flour together in the chafing dish ; add the stock and 
milk and stir until smooth ; put in the chicken ; salt and 
pepper and cook three minutes longer. 

Blanquette of Chicken. — One pint of cold chicken 
cut in dice or small pieces, one tablespoon ful of butter, 
one heaping tablespoonful of flour, one-half cup of white 
stock, yolk of two eggs, one-half cup of cream, parsley, 
salt, pepper, lemon, nutmeg. Stir the butter into the 
flour; before it browns add the stock; stir a minute; add 
a little lemon juice, white pepper, salt, slight grating of 
nutmeg and cream; boil up once and add the chicken 
(use the low heat and simmer eight minutes if using elec- 
tricity) ; then add the eggs well beaten ; stir in chopped 
parsley and serve at once. 

Scrambled Eggs. — Five eggs, one tablespoonful of 
butter and one teaspoonful of salt. Beat the eggs in a 
bowl enough to blend the white and yolks ; melt the but- 
ter and turn in the eggs ; stir until thick and smooth ; 
season with the salt and white pepper. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 109 

Scrambled Eggs with Tomato. — Five eggs, cupful 
of tomato, salt. To the eggs, started as before, add a 
cupful of canned tomato, drained and chopped fine. 
Serve directly from the pan into hot plates. Chopped 
ham or bacon (in place of oysters or tomatoes) makes 
an appetizing dish. 

Plain Omelet. — Four eggs, four tablespoonfuls of 
milk, walnut of butter. Break the eggs into a bowl with 
the milk and whip thoroughly ; put the butter in the chaf- 
ing dish, and when very hot run the eggs into it, allow- 
ing it to cook until thick; use a thin-bladed knife to 
loosen it from the bottom, but do not stir it ; when done, 
carefully roll the edges over until all rolled up. Serve on 
a hot plate. 

Stirred Eggs. — One gill of chicken gravy, five eggs, 
one tablespoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of minced 
parsley, one-half teaspoonful of salt. To the melted 
butter add the gravy, and when hissing hot stir in the 
beaten eggs until they thicken ; season and sprinkle with 
minced parsley. Serve on toast. 

Salt Codfish. — One-half pint of desiccated codfish, 
two tablespoonfuls of butter, one tablespoonful of flour, 
one gill of cream. Put the butter into the chafing dish ; 
when melted add the flour, stirring constantly; then put 
in the codfish, which has been previously soaked for an 
hour in tepid water; add the cream and let all simmer 
ten minutes, stirring constantly. 

Chicken Halibut. — One cupful of cold boiled hali- 
but, two hard-boiled eggs, one cup and a half of milk, 
butter size of an egg, crumbs of four biscuits (crackers), 
salt. Shred the halibut with a fork ; put the milk into 
the food pan with hot water below, and let it come to 
a boil ; add butter and salt, then the cracker crumbs, and 
lastly the halibut; let it cook five minutes, then add the 
eggs chopped fine, and serve on a hot platter with bits 
of buttered toast. 



110 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

Stewed Oysters. — Two dozen good-sized oysters, 
one and one-half pints of milk, a walnut of butter and 
one-half teaspoonful of salt. Boil the milk in chafing 
dish; add the oysters, butter and salt; allow it just to 
come to a boil, then serve. Above is sufficient for four. 

Creamed Oysters. — One pint of milk, one-half table- 
spoonful of butter, one-half tablespoonful of flour, one- 
half teaspoonful of salt, one pint of oysters, nutmeg. 
When the milk boils, stir into it the butter into which the 
flour has been rubbed ; season with a slight grating of 
nutmeg, and salt ; when creamy, add the oysters without 
their liquor; allow them to be just heated through, and 
serve on thin strips of buttered toast. 

Pan Roast. — One dozen large oysters, one-half pint 
of oyster liquor, one tablespoonful of butter, salt. Melt 
the butter in the chafing dish, and as it creams add the 
oysters, liquor and salt; cover and cook about two min- 
utes. Put six of the oysters on a thin slice of toast, with 
sufficient liquid to moisten the toast, and serve. 

Sweetbreads with Peas. — Can of peas, three small 
sweetbreads, one teaspoonful of butter, one-half pint of 
stock broth, celery leaf, salt, one-half teaspoonful of 
brown flour. Stand the sweetbreads in cold water for 
an hour; then parboil and remove rough edges, mem- 
branes, sinews, etc. ; put in cold water and keep on ice 
until wanted; put into the chafing dish the butter and 
the sweetbreads. When the butter has been absorbed 
add one-half pint of stock and the celery leaf, chopped 
fine, the salt and browned flour; turn the sweetbreads; 
when the same is reduced one-half it is ready; when 
cooking, open a can of green peas; warm thoroughly in 
the chafing dish ; put in salt and a tablespoonful of butter. 
Serve peas and sweetbreads together. 

Lamb with Tomato. — One pint of lamb stock, one- 
half pint of canned tomato chopped fine, one pint of cold 
lamb cut in dice, one tablespoonful of butter, one tea- 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 111 

spoonful of onion juice, and salt. Boil the stock, then 
add the butter, salt, onion and tomato ; boil and then put 
in the lamb and simmer a few minutes. 

Lamb Chops. — Small lamb chops, butter, salt, rub 
inside of chafing dish with butter ; let it get very hot, so 
it will at once sear the chops and prevent the escape of 
the juice. Turn them often while cooking. 

Fricassee of Dried Beef. — One cup of beef finely 
chopped, one tablespoonful of butter, two eggs, one-half 
pint of milk. Melt the butter in the milk; add the beef 
and cook five minutes, then put in the beaten eggs, slowly, 
and stir until the sauce is thick. Serve on toast. 

Dried Beef. — One-half pound of dried beef, two 
tablespoonfuls of butter, one-half pint of milk, one table- 
spoonful of flour. Put the butter in the chafing dish and 
add the beef ; fry until brown, then add the milk; cream 
the flour with a little cold milk, then stir it in. Serve 
on toast. 

Creamed Potatoes. — One pint of cold potatoes cut 
in cubes or thin slices, milk, one tablespoonful of butter, 
one-half tablespoonful of chopped parsley. Put the po- 
tatoes in the chafing dish, cover with milk and cook until 
the milk is absorbed ; then add the butter, salt, pepper and 
parsley. Stir a few moments and serve. 

THE USE OF VEGETABLES IN THE NURSERY 

Spinach. — Spinach, which is a wholesome vegeta- 
ble when properly cooked, acts as a useful aperient and 
is frequently prescribed for habitual constipation. It 
should be well cleaned, cooked in an abundance of salted 
boiling water, and for young children pressed through a 
puree sieve. It may be served with or without a little 
cream. When prepared in this manner it will produce 
no irritation, and is a vegetable that may be used fre- 



112 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

quently in nursery menus, in broths or alone. It may be 
used for children two and a half years old. 

Onions. — 'The onion is valuable in several ways. It 
adds flavor to foods and is slightly laxative. The French 
consider a puree of onions a great restorative in debility 
of digestion. Either the Spanish or Bermuda onion is 
preferable for the nursery. It should be boiled tender 
in stock or water and served with cream sauce, or baked, 
wrapped in a buttered paper, in a moderately heated 
oven. When made into a puree it is a satisfactory addi- 
tion to a dinner consisting partly of starchy foods, like 
rice or potatoes, supplying the fat necessary for these 
vegetables in the butter added to the milk or cream in 
the sauce to be used with the puree. As onions belong 
to the variety of vegetables that contain little starch or 
sugar, a sweet dessert, like wine jelly, should be used 
with any menu calling for this vegetable. They may 
be used with care for children over three, watching for 
individual idiosyncrasies. 

Celery. — Celery is both wholesome and digestible if 
in good condition. It may be eaten uncooked, by chil- 
dren over six, in very small quantities, as a single tender 
slip at dinner, and this well scraped, unless from the 
heart of the stalk. The outer stalks should all be scraped 
to free them from the indigestible covering of cellulose 
or woody portion, which is harmful for even an adult. 
For general use in the nursery it should be stewed. Care 
should be taken to use the water also in which the celery 
has been boiled. This may be done by giving it as a 
broth, or by using it in making the sauce to serve with 
the celery. 

Stewed Celery. — Cut off the tops of a bunch of 
celery, putting aside some of the tender and perfectly 
fresh portions for use for the general household. Cut 
the stalks into small pieces, first scraping them well. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 113 

Boil quite tender in salted boiling water, just enough to 
cover the celery. It will take from twenty-five to thirty- 
five minutes over a quick fire. Serve plain, or with the 
usual cream sauce, made, however, from half celery wa- 
ter and half milk instead of all milk. Experience will 
show that the tops usually require a longer time to cook 
than the stalks. For nursery diet the tender portions 
also should be used. The addition of a white stock would 
make a pleasant change, especially if made of chicken, 
veal stock being not quite so desirable for the nursery. 
Allowable at two and a half years of age. 

Cauliflower. — This vegetable is both delicate and 
digestible, and a tablespoonful may be eaten for dinner 
by a child over three years of age. It should be taken 
plain or with cream sauce, not with melted butter, which 
is never to be allowed on the nursery table. It is very 
nice when cut in pieces and stewed tender in beef stock 
or in chicken broth. Its preparatory cleansing must be 
very carefully done, a preliminary soaking, head down, 
being the first step. 

Carrots. — If very young and tender, they may be 
used very carefully for a child over five. Cook them soft 
enough to press through a puree sieve and serve a small 
quantity in broth or seasoned with hot cream and salt. 
They may also be tried, but cautiously, when cut in very 
small squares, served plain or not, and well cooked. 

Peas and Beans. — Dried peas may be used for chil- 
dren three to four years old if first soaked for twenty- 
four hours, cooked very soft and pressed through a puree 
sieve. Fresh peas, if picked the day they are to be used, 
may be added to the dietary of a child of two and one- 
half years, but they should be very young and tender. 
They must be cooked rapidly from ten to twenty minutes 
in boiling salted water — just enough to keep them from 
burning — in an open granite saucepan ; remembering that 



114 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

for all vegetable cooking, in fact for all cooking in the 
nursery, porcelain or granite utensils should be used 
invariably. 

Very young beans, or a puree of dried beans, may be 
tried cautiously for children over three. For best re- 
sults both peas and beans, when fresh, should be cooked 
as soon as possible after picking. The use of these vege- 
tables must be watched closely for indications pointing 
to assimilation or non-assimilation. It must not be over- 
looked that they supply a moderate amount of proteids, 
hence less meat should be used with a menu containing 
either peas or beans. A practical method for trying a 
new vegetable is to reserve its use for a time when the 
child is in perfect condition, digesting its food easily, and 
when the menu contains nothing but food that has been 
tried and found to agree. The chances are, then, that if 
any trouble arises it may be traced to the exact cause. 
Caution should always be the watchword in the nursery. 

Asparagus. — Asparagus possesses diuretic properties 
and is a vegetable strongly recommended for nursery 
use, especially when in season. For children, only the 
tips should be used, cooking them tender in boiling salted 
water and serving either plain or with cream sauce. They 
may be used for children two and a half years old. 

Tomatoes. — Tomatoes are not to be eaten when milk 
is in the dietary. If given at all, it should be after a child 
has reached five years. They should be cooked slowly for 
several hours in a porcelain or agate vessel, strained and 
thickened with a little barley, wheat or rice flour, or a 
few grated bread-crumbs or grated crackers. Season, 
when preparing, with sugar, salt and a teaspoonful of 
onion juice. Raw tomatoes must be used very cautiously, 
and not until a child is five years old. The seeds and skin 
should be discarded, and the tomato should be fresh- 
picked and just ripe. An under- or overripe tomato is 
dangerous food. Tomato jelly may be tried for children 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 115 

over three if made from strained cooked tomatoes and 
gelatin, the latter to be used in the usual way. 

Beets. — Beet root is a valuable vegetable, an ap- 
petizer, and belongs to the class containing sugar. This 
knowledge is of importance in selecting menus that should 
contain the proportionate amount of the necessary con- 
stituents. It is not indigestible unless tough and stringy. 
Very young beets may be cooked tender in boiling salted 
water in less than an hour. Care must be taken to wash 
the root without bruising it, and to cut off the top at least 
an inch from the beet, as this will prevent the loss of the 
juice that is desirable. Serve plain, cut in dainty squares 
or slices. They may be added to the diet of a child five 
years old, with caution and moderation. 

Apple Sauce. — This really comes under fruits, but 
it may be given at dinner in place of a vegetable at those 
seasons of the year when young fresh vegetables, are dif- 
ficult to find. It should be prepared very carefully. As 
quickly as the apples are pared and cored they should be 
dropped into cold water, to prevent discoloration. When 
ready for cooking put them into a double boiler of agate 
or porcelain, or an earthen jar set in a pot of water and 
steam until tender, adding no water to the apples. When 
done, beat up with a silver fork or spoon and add a little 
sugar and a little lemon juice, if liked. Cinnamon, deli- 
cately sifted over the surface, is a pleasant addition. If 
preferred, the sauce may be made, if done carefully, in 
an agate saucepan, using just enough water to reach the 
top pieces of apple (do not cover them). If pressed 
through a puree sieve it should be of agate, as one of tin 
destroys the delicate flavor of the apple. This sauce may 
be given to a child eighteen months old. 

Brussels Sprouts. — Brussels sprouts, when very 
tender and perfectly fresh, may be carefully used after 
a child is six years old. They must be cooked tender in 
salted water and served plain or with cream sauce. 



116 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

Corn. — Corn for the nursery should always be used 
as a puree, or cooked on the cob in boiling salted water 
for ten minutes, the tender part to be pressed out with 
the back of a knife after scoring. This may be given to 
a child of three, as, being freed from its indigestible 
covering, it will not irritate. As the child grows older, 
the corn may be grated and served in the form of a corn 
pudding or omelet. 

There is probably no other rule so important for in- 
fant diet as that which regulates the. amount of starch 
to be given to a child. Of the starchy foods allowed in 
the nursery for dinner, rice, potatoes and macaroni are 
the most important. They are palatable foods, and are 
easily digested if properly prepared and administered at 
the right age. 

Rice. — Rice is not suitable in itself as a sole food. 
It is lacking in fat and salts and is poor in nitrogenous 
substances, but the starch that it contains (its chief con- 
stituent) is easily digested, and it is, therefore, a very 
valuable food when mixed in proper proportions with 
articles of food that are rich in fat and albuminoids. 
It should not be given freely to a child until after two 
and one-half years, using it in broths from eighteen 
months to this age. A very satisfactory way to prepare 
rice for children is to wash it well, soak it overnight in 
cold water and cook rapidly in an abundance of salted 
water for twenty minutes. The grains will swell and 
they are easy to digest. If the preliminary soaking is 
overlooked, drop the rice gradually into the boiling water, 
care being taken to keep the boiling continuous while 
this is done, and cook rapidly for thirty minutes, stir- 
ring once or twice with a fork to keep the grains from 
sticking to the bottom. When done, whichever method 
is followed, pour the rice into an agate sieve, let a quan- 
tity of hot water run through until it runs clear and 
then set the sieve upon a plate in the oven until the rice 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 117; 

is perfectly dry. This is a very good way to prepare it 
for breakfast for occasional use in place of oatmeal for 
the summer months, serving it with cream and a little 
sugar or salt, as seems most advisable. Steaming is the 
method usually advocated for cooking rice. Inasmuch 
as the starch in rice is very easily digested, long cooking 
is not so necessary as when cooking oatmeal, etc. ; and as, 
in selecting a child's menu, we do not depend on the small 
amount of proteids found in rice (which are said to dis- 
solve in cooking) , the above method, judging by results, 
seems to be practically preferable, although steaming may 
be considered so theoretically. When unpolished rice is 
used more salts are obtained, and steaming may then be 
preferable. 

Potatoes. — The potato is a salt-giving starch vege- 
table, to be eaten with lean meats, or other nitrogenous 
foods. It is three-quarters water and prevents concen- 
tration in food. The remaining quarter is nearly all 
starch. Care should be exercised in the selection of 
potatoes, those that are yellowish white being preferred. 
The fact that it takes three and a half hours to digest 
boiled potatoes, and two hours for those that are prop- 
erly baked, will indicate at once which method is prefer- 
able for the nursery. The desired temperature for cook- 
ing starchy foods can be reached in the oven with care, 
and a potato of medium size should be baked in from 
thirty to forty-five minutes. When done in this way 
they may be given occasionally with dish gravy from 
roast beef, roast mutton, or broiled beefsteak, or with 
salt and cream, to a child of eighteen months ; but it may 
be safer to wait a little while longer, according to the 
condition of the child. The potash in potato, which is 
an important salt and soluble in water, is not lost when 
potatoes are baked. For this reason, when mashed po- 
tatoes are desired for children, they should either be 
steamed in a steamer or a closed colander placed over 



118 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

boiling water, or be boiled in the skin. When done they 
should be lightly beaten with a fork and a little cream and 
salt added. If properly cooked in this way a potato will 
assume a mealy or floury appearance, and boiled pota- 
toes should never be used in the nursery unless done in 
this way. 

Macaroni, etc. — Macaroni, spaghetti and vermicelli 
are all preparations of flour, supposed to be made from 
hard Italian wheat, rich in gluten. Sir Henry Thomp- 
son observes of macaroni : "It is certainly to be lamented 
that so little use is made in our country of Italian pastes. 
Macaroni in all its forms is, in fact, an aliment of very 
high nutritious power, being formed chiefly of gluten, the 
most valuable part of the wheat, from which the starch 
has been removed. Weight for weight, it may be re- 
garded as not less valuable for flesh-forming purposes in 
the animal economy than beef or mutton. Most people 
can digest it more easily and rapidly than meat ; it offers, 
therefore, an admirable substitute for meat, particularly 
for lunch or mid-day meals." It must be selected with 
care, as there are many imitations in market which con- 
tain little gluten and much starch. To prepare it for the 
nursery, add about ten sticks of macaroni, broken into 
small pieces, to a quart of boiling salted water, dropping 
the pieces in one by one, that the water may continue 
boiling. Cook gently for twenty minutes, drain thor- 
oughly and put it back in the saucepan, adding cream 
or a pint of milk thickened with a teaspoonful of flour 
rubbed smooth in a teaspoonful of butter, and allow it 
to simmer for another twenty minutes. Enough milk or 
cream should be used to cover the macaroni well when 
done with the cream sauce which results from careful 
simmering. Spaghetti may be prepared in the same way. 
Vermicelli is to be used as an addition to broths, but there 
is no reason why it should not be prepared as directed 
above. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 119 

If any of the vegetables mentioned disagree, on care- 
ful observation, with children possessing certain inherent 
peculiarities, their use should be postponed until after the 
second teeth have appeared. It is always advisable to 
watch for indications of habitual non-assimilation of cer- 
tain foods, and, if necessary, not to use them until later 
years, when a more liberal dietary in many respects may 
be allowed. 

Salads dressed with olive oil may be given after sec- 
ond dentition ; the oil is a valuable nutrient, and the fresh 
green supplies an important part of a growing girl's or 
boy's requirements. 

THE PLACE OF FRUIT IN THE NURS- 
ERY DIET 

The use of fruits in nursery dietetics is of the greatest 
importance. They contain a very large proportion of 
water, but their chief food-value lies in the sugar, acids 
and salts that they contain, which cool the blood, aid the 
digestion, tend to promote intestinal action and correct 
tendencies to constipation. They are especially adapted 
to the nourishment of the brain and nervous system. 

The selection and use of fruit demand careful con- 
sideration, and it must be used moderately at all times, 
as any excess tends to intestinal irritation. The seeds, 
pulp and cellular parts are usually the disturbing ele- 
ments. The juices are, as a rule, perfectly wholesome 
and may be used some time before solid fruits may be 
given. The Lancet says: "Nothing is more essential 
to learning than frequent reiteration. ... It might 
be supposed that by this time every one understood the 
importance of observing particular care in the selec- 
tion of a summer dietary, especially as regards fruit. 
Hardly any question of domestic management is either 



120 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

more vital or more elementary, yet error continually 
arises in this connection in the simplest way. A few 
days ago a child died soon after eating strawberries. 
Why? Because the fruit had been purchased two days 
previously, and, as was only to be expected, when eaten 
was in a state of decay. It is impossible to resist the 
impression that neglect had something to do with the 
sad result in this instance. Luscious fruits are particu- 
larly liable to putrefactive change, and such thrifty proc- 
esses as exposure to a cold and dry air, spreading out, 
and the like, suffice only to postpone decay for a brief 
period. We can not do better than point to the incident 
above mentioned in order to remind the vender and pur- 
chaser alike that freshness is the only certain guarantee 
of safety when any succulent fruit forms an article of 
diet. We have not forgotten that another hardly less 
serious danger of the season awaits those who indulge in 
fruit when it is under-ripe. In this case taste as well as 
judgment commonly interposes a caution the importance 
of which can hardly be exaggerated. Yet here, also, the 
consequences of neglect have too often been sadly ap- 
parent." 

As may be inferred from the above remarks, it is of 
the first importance that fruits be fresh, ripe and in good 
condition. They must also be delicately handled, as their 
greatest value lies in the juice they contain, which may 
readily be lost in whole or in part by careless handling. 
A child two and a half years old may usually be allowed 
the juice and pulp of a sweet ripe orange ; no amount of 
sugar will correct the acidity of a sour orange, in a whole- 
some way, for nursery use. The juice of a sweet orange 
is indicated in feverish conditions and it may be freely 
used under almost all circumstances after a mixed dietary 
has begun. It is well to remember, in giving all fresh 
fruits, that the best time is to give them for breakfast or 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 121 

for early dinner, as all fruit allowable for supper should 
be cooked. It should also be remembered that when fat 
and meat form a considerable portion of the menu, fresh 
fruit should be carefully given; therefore, in winter 
menus, when fat and meat are necessary for dinner, it 
is advisable to use fresh fruit for breakfast and pud- 
dings, etc. ; for dinner, desserts. In summer, when meat 
and fat should be sparingly used, fresh fruit may be given 
for both breakfast and dinner ; never for supper at any 
season of the year. Baked apples may be used fre- 
quently after a child is two years old. Doctor Rotch 
says a baked apple may be given at the evening meal, 
when a child is fourteen to fifteen months old; or for 
variety, the apple can be made into a simple sauce, never, 
however, having the sauce made with much sugar. The 
pulp of a raw apple, scraped with a silver spoon or knife, 
may sometimes be given for breakfast. Apples, cooked 
or raw, are particularly useful with a concentrated diet 
(beef broth, eggs, etc.), and if properly selected they 
are easily digested. As a rule a child who is delicate 
and has little appetite for breakfast will rarely turn away 
from a juicy baked apple, daintily served. For eating 
raw, a highly-colored apple, with rosy sugary flesh, is 
most digestible, if care be taken to see that it is properly 
masticated. Any really ripe apple may be used with 
safety if peeled and scraped. The juices of almost any 
fruit may be used at two and a half years, either as a 
drink or with the varieties of desserts or farinaceous 
foods allowed. Cherries, grapes, raspberries, strawber- 
ries, blackberries, pineapples and similar juicy fruits are 
suitable for this purpose. These juices may be prepared 
in the following manner, and possess the advantage of 
being ready for use at all seasons of the year. Express 
the clear juice of the fruit in the usual way and boil it 
with a small quantity of sugar, about a quarter of a 



122 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

pound to a pint of juice. Boil fifteen minutes, stirring 
constantly, and skim as long as any scum arises. Then 
strain, put in bottles or jars and seal. 

After a child is two and a half years old, stewed fruits 
should be freely used, especially apples, prunes, figs and 
peaches. For many children all ripe fruits are laxative 
and for this reason alone, if for no other, they are val- 
uable aids in regulating a diet that is frequently much 
too concentrated or too starchy, keeping a child dull, 
sluggish and unhappy. Oranges are frequently used in 
this corrective way. Doctor Tweddell * says the juice of 
a fresh sweet orange may be given at six months of age, 
beginning with two teaspoon fuls one hour before the 
second feeding of the day, and increasing the amount to 
one or two ounces by the end of the year. It must 
always be strained. Some children can not take orange 
juice ; in that case the juice of boiled prunes or strained 
apple sauce may be substituted. 

The following fruits may be used after three years and 
a half, according to the child's power of digestion : 

Cranberries, which rank as an antiscorbutic and an 
astringent, may be given in the form of a sauce or a 
drink. They should be strained when used in the nur- 
sery. To make a cooling, refreshing drink, boil the ber- 
ries in water double the measure of the berries. Boil 
until the juice has been thoroughly extracted, sweeten 
with one-half pound of sugar to a quart of juice, boil 
ten minutes, bottle and seal while hot. This must be 
largely diluted. 

Strawberries are wholesome for nearly every one 
when fresh and ripe, if taken in moderation, but results 
must be carefully watched for individual idiosyncrasies. 
Some physicians recommend their use as early as two 
years and a half, but it is better to err on the safe side, 
and "make haste slowly." 

Dates and Figs are highly nutritious, much more so 

* How to Take Care of the Baby. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 123 

than many other fruits, and in large quantities they are 
usually aperient. Children generally like dates when 
seeded, pressed flat and served with a slice of buttered 
brown bread or saltine crackers. 

Pears, when ripe, may be used carefully, but they 
are not to be preferred to other fruit for the first five 
years, as, in the opinion of many, they require a long 
time for digestion, and, being decidedly laxative, if not 
properly digested they are likely to give trouble. 

Peaches may be used from eighteen months up, 
when fresh and ripe and prepared carefully, — that is, 
pared immediately before eating. Doctor Rotch says a 
ripe peach, when in season, may often be given with ben- 
efit during the second year, especially if the infant is in- 
clined to be constipated. They should always be pared 
for nursery use, as should every skin fruit, like the pear, 
apple, plum, etc. Diphtheria has been known to be car- 
ried by unwashed apples ; and, even if no contagion ex- 
ists, there is something decidedly unpleasant in the 
thought of eating fruit that has been handled constantly 
by unwashed hands from the time of picking, through 
transit, and until it reaches the table. Even dates and 
figs suffer no appreciable loss by being quickly but care- 
fully washed and dried over a range or in the sun, and 
they are infinitely more appetizing when treated in this 
way. Sterilized or boiled water should always be used 
for this purpose. 

Grapes occupy an intermediary position and may 
be used medicinally in many cases, under the guidance, 
however, of a physician. They are very rich in sugar, 
both in the fresh and in the dried form (raisins), and 
are easily digested when fully ripe. They are particularly 
useful in convalescence and in anemic and catarrhal con- 
ditions. The skins and seeds of all grapes must be re- 
jected ; the pulp, also, of many of them, chiefly on account 
of the seeds they contain. The pulp of Tokay, Malaga 



124 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

and similar grapes may be eaten freely. Grape juice is 
especially refreshing and is liked by all children. It may 
be given among the first fruit juices allowed. A pleasant 
way to prepare grape juice for young children is to use 
a fruit-press (a press that is used for mashing potatoes 
will answer very well), putting pulp, skin and all into 
it and expressing the juice, which may be given clear or 
diluted for dessert, or as a cooling drink in hot weather, 
whenever and in whatever quantity desired. In this way 
some of the valuable ingredients of fruit may be added 
to a child's dietary long before the use of solid fruit is 
allowed. The use of these fruit juices corresponds, in 
the order of the menus indicated, to the use of the vege- 
table waters spoken of when making meat broths, which 
may also be used before even vegetable purees are al- 
lowed. 

Blackberries are an astringent fruit and they must 
be perfectly ripe to be eaten in their natural state. The 
usual blackberry in market is unripe, although black, and 
is unfit for food unless cooked. The berries are not 
sweet when in this condition, and if eaten they will easily 
cause a period of indigestion. A very good jelly may be 
made by using gelatin soaked in blackberry juice instead 
of cold water, in the proportion of a box of gelatin to 
a pint of juice, adding one cup of sugar and three cups 
of boiling water. Boil, strain, cool and keep in covered 
jars or tumblers. This method, with the variations called 
for by the different fruits in the way of sugar, flavoring, 
etc., will be found an excellent one for the use of all 
fruits. Cherries, pineapples, prunes, oranges, apples, 
grapes, raspberries, currants and rhubarb are all to be 
recommended in this form. A further variation may be 
made at any time by adding the whites of eggs in pro- 
portion to the quantity made (as, for instance, two to 
four whites to one box of gelatin), beating the whites 
stiff and whipping them into the fruit jelly a little at a 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 125 

time before it is quite firm. This may be eaten plain or 
with sweet cream. 

Corn starch and blanc-mange may be varied by cooking 
them with fruit juices instead of milk, to be served with 
milk or cream. 

The white of egg beaten very stiff and slightly sweet- 
ened, or whipped cream, either of them to be used with 
the addition of fruit or fruit jelly, is a dessert that is 
simple, easily made, and one that not only pleases the eye 
and palate, but possesses desirable nutriment as well. 

While the selection of a fruit or fruit dessert may seem 
the least important portion of the nursery menu, it does 
not occupy this position, as, if used at all, it must be con- 
sidered in connection with the idea carried out in selecting 
the entire menu for the meal. We must always remember 
the rules to be followed in health in regard to proportion- 
ate quantities of food containing albuminoids, starches, 
fats and sugars, — one supplementing the other. Under 
other conditions than those of health an entirely different 
plan must be followed, as special conditions call for spe- 
cially directed nutrients, and at such times fruits and 
vegetables are not desirable, unless recommended by 
some one of unquestionable authority, — i.e., the family 
physician. 

DESSERTS 

Brown Betty. — Alternate layers of sliced apples and 
dry bread-crumbs, just enough crumbs to cover the ap- 
ples. Add bits of butter, sugar and ground cinnamon. 
Do this until the pudding-dish is full, having bread on 
the top. Pour half a cup of molasses or milk and half 
a cup of water over the whole, set the dish in a pan of 
boiling water and bake in a moderately hot oven for 
three-quarters of an hour. Serve with cream. 



126 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

Fruit Tapioca Pudding. — Boil one-half cupful of 
pearl tapioca in one quart of boiling water until soft and 
transparent. Add one-half teaspoonful of salt and one- 
half cupful of sugar; pare and core three tart apples, 
or three pears and fill the centers with sugar and a little 
cinnamon or cloves ; put in a baking-dish, pour the tapi- 
oca around them and bake until the fruit is tender. Serve 
hot or cold, with cream. 

Strawberry Custard. — Make a boiled custard with 
the yolks of five eggs, one quart of milk, one-half cupful 
of sugar and one-half teaspoonful of vanilla. Crush and 
strain one pint of berries and mix with them one-half 
cupful of powdered sugar. Gradually beat this into the 
well-beaten whites of four eggs. If the fruit is very 
acid, more sugar will be required. Serve the custard in 
small glass cups and pile the strawberry-float on top. 

Raspberry Blanc-mange. — Any blanc-mange may be 
made with fruit juice according to the following direc- 
tions : 

Into a pint of boiling fresh milk stir two tablespoon- 
fuls of corn starch made smooth in a little cold milk. 
While thickening, add two tablespoon fuls of sugar and 
one-half cupful of raspberry juice and turn into a double 
boiler, where it should be steamed for half an hour. Place 
in molds (tiny cups are desirable for nursery use), cool 
and serve with sweet cream. 

Cherry Jelly. — Use one pint of cherry juice instead 
of cold water, to soak the required amount of gelatin; 
add the juice of two lemons, two cups of sugar and three 
cups of boiling water. Some may prefer a trifle more 
sugar. Sweeten to taste and seal in jars or tumblers. 

Rhubarb and Orange Jam. — Allow one quart of 
finely cut rhubarb, six Valencia oranges and the same 
weight of sugar as of fruit. Peel the oranges, remove 
as much of the white pith as possible, divide them and 
take out the pips. Put the pulp, half the rinds and the 



L WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 127 

rhubarb, peeled and cut up, into the scales, weigh and 
allow the same quantity of sugar as of fruit. Then put 
all into the preserving kettle, bring to a boil, skim and 
simmer for an hour, or until done. 

Dates and Cream. — Remove the stones from dates 
then cut them rather fine and put them in a glass dish ; 
cover them with whipped cream and stand aside in a 
cold place for thirty minutes before serving. You will 
have a dainty and wholesome dessert that can be eaten 
by the children of the family. 

Dates and figs may be washed, soaked overnight and 
stewed slowly, adding a little lemon juice if liked. 

Jellied Apples. — Pare and slice thin a dozen or more 
tart apples. Place in a pudding-dish alternate layers of 
apple and brown sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon, 
and when the dish has been filled in this way, pour over 
it one-half cup of water. Lay a buttered plate over the 
top and cook slowly for three hours. Set in a cold place 
and when ready turn out into a glass dish. Whip half 
a pint of cream and pile it up around the jellied apple. 

Apple Snow. (Adapted from Davies.) — Reduce two 
apples to a pulp, press this through a sieve, sweeten and 
flavor. Have ready the whites of two eggs, beaten stiff. 
Beat the apple-pulp to a froth and whisk the two to- 
gether until they look like stiff snow. 

Rhubarb Jelly. — To be made in May. Wash the 
stalks and cut without peeling; cover with cold water 
and simmer until soft. Then proceed in the usual man- 
ner, letting the juice drip through a jelly bag; do not 
squeeze. Use one pound of sugar (granulated) to a pint 
of juice and boil fifteen minutes. Heat the sugar in the 
oven, stirring frequently; add it at the end of the fifteen 
minutes' boiling and stir until it comes to a boil. Strain 
through cheese-cloth, pour into jelly-tumblers and cover 
with melted paraffin, a second layer after first has cooled. 

Rhubarb Mold. (Davies.) — One quart of red rhu- 



128 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

barb cut in pieces, put into a covered saucepan. Let it 
boil until it is a pulp; soak half an ounce of gelatin in 
cold water, pour just enough boiling water over it to dis- 
solve it; add to it the rhubarb, with sugar to sweeten; 
let it boil fifteen minutes ; add a few drops of essence 
of lemon. Butter a mold and pour in the rhubarb. Next 
dip the mold in hot water and turn out on a glass dish. 

Rhubarb Jam. — Rhubarb jam is desirable for nursery- 
use and may be made in the proportion of a pound of 
sugar to a pound and a quarter of rhubarb, adding a lit- 
tle lemon peel. Boil one hour after the sugar has dis- 
solved. 

Orange Jelly. — Dissolve three-fourths of a box of 
gelatin in one and one-half pints of water ; add one-half 
pint of orange juice, sugar to sweeten and the juice of 
one lemon. Boil, strain and cool, and keep covered un- 
til used. 

Sago Jelly. — Soak one cup of sago overnight in one 
pint of cold water. In the morning add one pint of boil- 
ing water. Boil in a double boiler one hour; add one 
teaspoonful of salt, one cup of sugar and one teaspoon- 
ful of lemon juice. 

Prune Jelly. — Cover one pound of prunes with one 
quart of water ; cook slowly. Add sugar to sweeten and 
one-half box of gelatin dissolved in a pint of water and 
boiled. Strain, cool and keep covered. 

Clarified Apples. — Prepare the apples as for sauce, 
in even-sized pieces, and simmer until tender in boiling 
sugar and water, turning the pieces once, using a flat 
agate saucepan, from which it is easy to remove the pieces 
of apple without breaking them as they become tender. 
Cook the sirup for ten minutes after the apples have been 
taken out, then pour it over them, sprinkle with cinnamon 
and let them cool in the sirup. Orange or lemon juice 
may be used for flavoring. 

Apple Water. — Mash two large tart apples that ha.ve 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 129 

been sprinkled with sugar and baked tender and slightly- 
brown and pour over them a pint of boiling water ; let 
stand covered in a cool place for an hour or two, strain 
and use. 

Irish Moss Tea. — Take a handful of Irish moss that 
has been washed and drained; pour cold water over it 
and let it simmer on the back of the stove until it is dis- 
solved ; then strain and mix with lemon juice and sugar. 
This is said to be excellent in rheumatic affections. If 
one is troubled with a dry hacking cough at night, it will 
often give relief if kept near the bedside and frequently 
sipped. 

Fruit Sauce. — Mash a quart of ripe fruit ; beat it, sift 
a cupful of sugar over it and set away; if the fruit is 
very sweet, less sugar will be required. About ten min- 
utes before the sauce is needed to serve with a pudding, 
set it over the fire and stir constantly ; when heated nearly 
to boiling, turn it about the base of the pudding, which 
has been placed in a deep platter. If the pudding boiler 
has a tube in the center, as it usually has, there is, of 
course, a hole in the center of the pudding, and this may 
be filled with the fruit sauce, which is, by the way, as 
attractive in appearance as it is delicious in taste. 

Marshmallow Drops. — This is a confection greatly 
relished by many, healthful and unobjectionable. It can 
be made quite conveniently at home ; if the best of mate- 
rials are used and care is exercised, the product will be 
fully equal to any that the market affords, and it can be 
made at any time and in any quantity to suit the occasion. 
Few people have an idea of the ingredients used or of 
the manner of their use, but here is the whole secret : A 
half-pound of gum arabic is to be dissolved in a pint of 
water; strain the solution, to remove any specks of or- 
ganic matter contained in the gum, then add one-half 
pound of white sugar; place the whole over a moderate 
fire and stir continually until the sugar is dissolved and 



130 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

a honey-like consistency is reached; then add, little by 
little, the whites of four eggs, thoroughly beaten, and 
stir the mixture till it becomes thin and will no longer 
adhere to the finger. The marshmallow factor is added 
by flavoring with as much tincture of marshmallow as 
may be desired. The compound is then poured into a tin 
or earthern vessel that has been lightly covered with pow- 
dered starch ; when cool, it is cut into squares, which are 
also dusted with the starch, and the process is completed. 
(Good Housekeeping.) 

Orange Sirup. — Squeeze the juice of thin-skinned 
oranges through a sieve, and to every pint add one and 
one-half pounds of powdered sugar and the juice of one 
lemon. Boil the sirup fifteen minutes and skim as long 
as any scum arises. Strain it, bottle and seal up tight, 
and it will keep a long time. Added to a glass of water 
it makes a delicious drink for an invalid. 

Lime Water. — Lime water is easily made at home 
for nursery use by putting a piece of unslaked lime the 
size of a walnut into two quarts of filtered water in an 
earthen vessel and stirring thoroughly ; allow the mix- 
ture to settle and pour off the clear solution as required 
for use, replacing the water and stirring up as consumed. 
(Yeo.) 

Rice Water. — This is a useful drink in dysentery, 
diarrhea, etc. Wash well one ounce of rice in cold water, 
then soak for three hours in a quart of water kept at a 
tepid heat and afterward boil slowly for an hour and 
strain. It may be flavored with lemon peel, cloves or 
other spice. (Pavey.) 

Rice Milk. — Soak one ounce of rice for twelve hours, 
wash it quite clean and drain it. Add the soaked rice 
to a pint of boiling milk, with half a teaspoonful of salt 
and sugar. Stir well and cook slowly for one hour. Rub 
through a hair sieve. Sago or tapioca may be substituted 
for rice. (Yeo.) 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 131 

Bread Jelly. — Take four ounces of bread-crumbs 
two or three days old, soak in cold water for six or eight 
hours, then squeeze all the water out of it (lactic acid 
and other peccant matters are thus removed). Place the 
pulp in fresh water and boil gently for an hour and a half 
to break up the granules of starch and promote its con- 
version into dextrine and glucose. Rub this semi-fluid 
gruel through a fine hair sieve ; when cold it forms a 
smooth jelly. It will not keep long. (Yeo.) 

Mulled Egg. — To be used in diseases in which the 
symptom of cough shows a certain degree of persistence. 
It is simply an emulsion of the yolk of egg in warm 
water, sweetened and seasoned to taste. It is prepared, 
as is well known, by mixing powdered sugar, the yolk of 
an egg and a cofTeespoonful of orange-flower water, add- 
ing boiling water gradually while stirring the mixture. 
(Fonssagrives.) 

Maple Molasses Gingerbread.— One cupful of boiling 
water, a piece of butter the size of an egg, one cupful of 
maple molasses, one-half teaspoonful of soda, one-half 
teaspoonful of ginger, two cupfuls of flour. Common 
molasses may be substituted for the maple molasses, but 
the flavor will not be the same. (How to Feed Children.) 

A Wholesome Sponge-Cake. — First sift the flour 
and sugar. Whisk the whites of the eggs stiff. Beat the 
yolks of the eggs very light in a large bowl, then stir in 
very gradually the sugar and a tablespoonful of milk; 
add the whites, blending all well before gently stirring 
in the flour and a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder. 
Bake in a well-buttered mold for one hour in a moder- 
ately quick oven. The proportions for a small cake are 
three eggs, one and a half cupfuls of flour and one cupful 
of pulverized sugar. The batter should pour easily. 

Rice Pudding with Eggs.— As eggs should be cooked 
lightly to be digestible, they should not be added to the 
farinaceous or milk puddings when first mixing, as is the 



132 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

usual custom. For rice pudding steam the rice tender in 
milk, using four teaspoonfuls of rice to a pint of milk; 
allow it to cool for a few minutes before stirring in two 
well-beaten eggs, which should not curdle, but should be 
partly cooked by the hot rice. Sweeten to taste, and add 
vanilla, lemon or any flavor desired. Grated nutmeg is 
very nice. Brown lightly and very quickly in a very hot 
oven. The above may be varied by pressing the rice 
through a puree sieve when hot. Add the eggs and fla- 
voring, omit browning, and steam the whole mixture for 
only a few minutes in a double boiler. The yolks also 
may be omitted if a white pudding is desired, using four 
whites in place of two whole eggs. This need not be 
steamed after mixing if the whites have been beaten stiff. 

Rice Pudding without Eggs. — Put two tablespoon- 
fuls of rice into two cupfuls of sweetened and flavored 
milk, and set it in a moderately hot oven. Stir every fif- 
teen minutes at first and every half-hour while the top 
forms. Any good cook understands the process, which, 
if carefully followed for two hours, produces a creamy, 
slightly brown pudding that is invariably relished by chil- 
dren. A few raisins may sometimes be added for chil- 
dren over five years old. 

Snow Pudding. (Burnet.) — Put into half a pint of 
cold water half a package of gelatin ; let it stand one 
hour ; then add one pint of boiling water, half a pound 
of sugar and the juice of two lemons. Stir and strain, 
and let it stand, covered, in a cool place all night. Beat 
the whites of two eggs very stiff and then beat them well 
into the mixture. Pour into a mold. 

Bread Pudding. — Soak one pint of fine bread-crumbs 
in a pint of milk until soft, add three tablespoon fuls of 
cocoa dissolved in a little water or a dessertspoonful of 
vanilla for flavoring, three well-beaten eggs, a cupful of 
granulated sugar and another pint of milk. Either plain 
or whipped cream is very good with this pudding. 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 133 

Kumiss. — With a little attention to some impor- 
tant details, kumiss may be readily made by any one, 
the sole ingredients requisite being milk, sugar and yeast. 
A clean quart bottle is filled three-fourths full of per- 
fectly fresh milk and to this is added a tablespoonful of 
fresh brewer's yeast, or one-fourth of a cake of com- 
pressed yeast, and a tablespoonful of white sugar. The 
bottle is thoroughly shaken and then filled with milk to 
within two or three inches of the top and again shaken. 
It is then tightly corked with a cork that has been soft- 
ened by soaking in hot water, and for this purpose a cork- 
ing machine should be employed. When the cork is 
driven home it is properly tied down. The bottles are 
now placed in an upright position in a cold place, at or 
near the temperature of fifty-two degrees Fahrenheit, 
where they should remain two or three days. They are 
then put on their sides in a cool cellar or refrigerator. 
Kumiss is at its best, probably, when five or six days 
old, but can be kept indefinitely at a temperature not ex- 
ceeding fifty-two degrees Fahrenheit. (Frederick P. 
Henry, M. D.) 

Wine Whey. — Boil a quart of milk, add to it half a 
pint of wine ; put on the fire till it boils again, then set 
aside till the curd settles ; pour off the whey and sweeten 
to taste. It is said that good country cider is as nice as 
the wine. 

Barley Water with White of Egg.— Take a table- 
spoonful of coarse barley and wash well with cold water, 
rejecting the washings. Then boil for an hour or more 
with a pint and a half of clean water, in a covered vessel 
or saucepan. Add a pinch of salt and enough sugar to 
render palatable and strain. To four or six ounces of 
barley water thus prepared add the white of one egg. 

The value of this preparation in gastro-intestinal in- 
flammation and irritation is not easily overestimated. In 
the enterocolitis (inflammation of the small intestine and 



134 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

the colon) of very young infants, its exclusive adminis- 
tration for thirty-six to forty-eight hours will often re- 
lieve when all other measures have failed. (J. Hobart 
Egbert, M. D.) 

The following recipes have been tested, and may be 
used for any child in fair health, as soon as simple des- 
serts are ordinarily allowed, which, under average con- 
ditions, is after two and a half years. For the earlier 
desserts, fruit juices, which should be among the first to 
be given, have already been discussed. 

Junkets and Custards. — Junket, made with the es- 
sence of pepsin (Fairchild's), is one of the first solid 
desserts to be recommended, and it may be given at eight- 
een months, as it contains a large amount of nutriment, 
is easily digested and is usually very acceptable. It can 
be varied for later years in several ways, — by the use 
of beaten raw egg stirred in the milk, or by using any 
flavor that is not acid. A baked apple is also one of the 
first desserts allowed. A sound ripe apple baked prop- 
erly is an easily digested delicacy, taking but an hour and 
a half for preparation in the stomach for assimilation. 
It is nourishing, a stimulant and altogether a food to be 
commended for nursery use, and it may be used as one 
of the first important changes when making additions to 
a child's dietary of milk and cereals. As stated else- 
where, Doctor Rotch allows it to be used from the four- 
teenth to the fifteenth month. 

A very satisfactory way to bake an apple for nursery 
use is to peel and core it carefully, pour a cup of cold 
water over it, sprinkle lightly with sugar, cover closely 
and bake in a moderate oven until tender. If carefully 
done, it should be as juicy and soft as jelly. 

Among the lighter desserts are whipped cream and 
soft custards. These are easily prepared and give suffi- 
cient variety until a child is three years old, when ice 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 135 

cream, rice pudding, orange float, tapioca, farina and the 
various milk puddings may follow in their order. 

The chief point to remember in the selection of des- 
serts is that when the child has a full menu for the earlier 
part of the dinner — e.g., meat or "broth, one cereal (rice), 
one juicy vegetable (puree of spinach), and bread and 
butter — a fruit or a light dessert is called for. But when 
for unavoidable reasons the main part of the dinner is 
light, as, for instance, bread and butter and beef broth, 
a substantial dessert should be chosen, — i.e., rice or tapi- 
oca pudding, milk jelly or cup custard, all of which con- 
tain the constituents of a varied diet, and thus supplement 
what would otherwise be an insufficient meal. When 
carrying out this idea, eggs should be added to the milk 
puddings, omitting them when lighter desserts are needed. 

Soft or cup custards may be made white or yellow by 
using or omitting half of the egg. They may also be 
colored and flavored with fruit juices, as cherry, prune, 
raspberry, etc. The proportions for a white cup custard 
would be the whites of three eggs to a pint of milk, and 
one or two whole eggs for the yellow for the same quan- 
tity of milk. When using fruit juices for custards, take 
less milk in proportion to the quantity of juice used. Al- 
ways use hot milk when adding the sugar and salt, and 
for a soft custard stir in a double pan or boiler until it 
thickens, using more milk than is called for in a recipe 
for cup custard. A soft custard should boil three min- 
utes. A cup custard should be poured into cups, set in 
a pan of hot water, and baked twenty minutes in a hot 
oven. 

Gelatin may be used in the nursery in a variety of 
ways. Dissolve one-half box in one pint of water, one- 
half cup of sugar, and one-quarter pint of fruit juice, 
using lemon and orange, currant juice and lemon, prune 
juice (one pound of prunes to a quart of water boiled 



136 DIET FOR CHILDREN 

to a sirup), grape juice, blackberry sirup, or one made 
from cranberries, remembering the astringent properties 
of both blackberries and cranberries and the laxative 
quality of prunes. Boil the mixture, with whatever fla- 
vor, strain and cool on ice — covered, as gelatin readily 
absorbs germs, odors, etc. 

Plain jelly made according to these directions, flavored 
with orange, vanilla or lemon, and whipped with cream 
before it is quite firm, is a delicate and appetizing dessert. 

Whipped cream flavored with prune juice, or with a 
small quantity of dry cocoa, is another dainty dessert. 

Grape sauce, or jelly made with gelatin, is especially 
refreshing to convalescents. 

A simple fruit jam, made without the seeds or skins 
of the fruit, may be used occasionally with bread and 
butter for children over three years of age. 

As mentioned before, these desserts can be easily made 
by any plain cook. The value of the suggestions lies in 
the variety that may be given to two seemingly conven- 
tional desserts, — custard and gelatin. 

Milk puddings may be equally varied by using a little 
judgment, a little experimenting, and by choosing simple 
sweet ingredients, such as tapioca with fruit, rice with 
or without eggs, barley flour with orange flavoring, bread- 
crumbs or bread soaked in milk, with chocolate or apple 
and eggs added, etc. 

Irish moss, dissolved and used with corn starch, made 
into blanc-mange, is a pleasant change. Add chocolate 
to the ordinary recipe for blanc-mange, and serve with 
sweet cream, for another variation. 

Milk jelly is the only dessert mentioned that may not 
be generally known. It is said to be retained by the. most 
sensitive stomach, and will nourish when almost nothing 
else will be tolerated. 

Heat one quart of milk, then add and stir until dis- 
solved one pound of granulated sugar; add an ounce of 



WITH MENUS AND RECIPES 137 

gelatin dissolved and allow the mixture to boil for ten 
minutes. Before straining and cooling, add the juice of 
three lemons or any flavoring desired. Pour into cups, 
cover and keep in a cool place. 

With the varieties suggested, and the long list of 
stewed fruits and fruit juices that may be used, it seems 
incredible that mothers will persist in feeding their little 
darlings with sweetmeats, doughnuts, cookies, heavy rich 
cakes, preserves, and canned fruits, even, as the writer 
has seen, going so far as to give them tea and coffee, 
with no consideration whatever for the delicacy of the 
child's digestion. 



THE END 



NOTES ,139 



140 NOTES 



NOTES 141 



142 NOTES 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abernethy, Dr. John, on amount of food necessary for the needs 

of the economy, 1. 
Adams, Dr. Samuel, on daily naps for children, 29. 
Anemic children, diet for, 63. 
Antidotes for poisons, 64. 

for antimonial wine, 65. 

for aqua fortis, 65. 

for arsenic, 65. 

for bedbug poison, 65. 

for bicarbonate of potassium, 65. 

for blue vitriol, 65. 

for carbolic acid, 65. 

for carbonate of sodium, 66. 

for caustic potash, 65. 

for caustic soda, 65. 

for chloral hydrate, 65. 

for chloroform, 65. 

for cobalt, 66. 

for copperas, 66. 

for corrosive sublimate, 65. 

for Fowler's solution, 65. 

for hydrochloric acid, 65. 

for laudanum, 66. 

for lead-water, 65. 

for morphine, 66. 

for nitrate of silver, 66. 

for nux vomica, 66. 

for oil of vitriol, 65. 

for opium (paregoric), 66. 

for oxalic acid, 65. 

for red precipitate, 65. 

for saltpetre, 65. 

for strychnine (rat and beetle poison), 66. 

for sugar of lead, 65. 

for sulphate of zinc, 65. 

for tartar emetic, 65. 

for vermilion, 65. 

for volatile alkali, 65. 

for white precipitate, 65. 

145 



146 INDEX 

Antimonial wine, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Apple, baked, as an appetizer, 121. 

clarified, recipe for, 128. 

how to bake, 134. 

jellied, recipe for, 127. 

sauce, recipe for, 115. 

snow, recipe for, 127. 
Apple-water, recipe for, 128. 
Aqua fortis, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Arrowroot gruel, recipe for, 95. 
Arsenic, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Artificial feeding of infants, Dr. Eustace Smith on, 3. 
Asparagus, method of cooking, 114. 
Atwater, Professor, on composition of foods, 8. 

Baby, the, Dr. Jacobi on good food for, 16. 
Barley broth, recipe for, 88. 

gruel, recipe for, 94. 
Barley-water, with white of egg, recipe for, 133. 
Beans, method of cooking, 114. 
Bedbug poison, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Beef broth, recipe for, 86. 

essence, recipe for, 88. 

juice, recipe for, 88. 

roast, gravy, recipe for, 90. 

method of cooking, 104. 

tea, recipe for, 88. 
Beets, method of cooking, 115. 

Bicarbonate of potassium, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Blackberries, use of, 124. 
Blackberry jelly, recipe for, 124. 
Blanc-mange, oatmeal, recipe for, 96. 

raspberry, recipe for, 126. 
Blue vitriol, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Bottles, nursing, care of, 19. 
Bread and milk, an ideal supper, 47. 

jelly, recipe for, 131. 

pudding, recipe for, 132. 

recipe for making, 98. 
Breakfast combinations for winter, 40. 

custard, savory, recipe for, 92. 

menus for child of five or six years, 41. 
Breakfasts, cool morning, 52. 

summer, 43. 

for child of three to five years, 39. 



INDEX 147 



Bronchitis, diet in, 63. 
Broth, barley, recipe for, 88. 

beef, recipe for, 86. 

chicken, recipe for, 87, 89. 

clam, recipe for, 90. 

mutton and veal, 89. 

oyster, recipe for, 90. 

veal, recipe for, 89. 
Broths, use of vegetables in, 85. 
Brown Betty, recipe for, 125. 
Browned flour gruel, recipe for, 95. 
Bruen, Dr. Edward T., on digestion, 54. 
Brussels sprouts, method of cooking, 115. 
Burnet, Dr. R. W., on foods in illness, 62. 
Butter, age to allow, 27. 

Cake, should never be given to infants, 50. 

Moravian, recipe for, 101. 
Candy, should never be given to infants, 50. 
Carbohydrates, 8. 

Carbolic acid, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Carbonate of sodium, treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Carrots, method of cooking, 113. 
Cauliflower, method of cooking, 113. 
Caustic potash, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 

soda, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Celery, method of cooking, 112. 
Cereals, necessary for growing children, 24. 

should be exposed to prolonged heat in cooking, 24. 

use of sugar with, 51. 
Cherries, use of, 124. 
Cherry jelly, recipe for, 126. 
Chicken broth, recipe for, 87, 89. 

custard, recipe for, 89. 

roasted, portions to use, 108. 
Children, adult food unsuitable for, 1. 

after thirty months old, food for, 34. 

amount of food necessary for, 2. 

anemic, diet for, 63. 

cereals necessary for promoting growth of, 24. 

convenient daily routine for, 29. 

development of, retarded by use of improper food, 1. 

dinner menus allowable for, after thirty months, 35. 

disease likely to follow improper feeding of, 1. 

five years old, week's menus for, 36. 



148 INDEX 

Children — Continued. 

five or six years old, breakfast menus for, 41. 

Fonssagrives on prevention of disease in, 55. 

food idiosyncrasies of, importance of ascertaining, 3. 

fourteen to fifteen months old, menu for, 31. 
alternating menu for, 31. 

Froebel, on proper food as a factor in the development 
of, 6. 

necessity of selection of food for, 1. 

night feeding of, 29, 30. 

nineteen months old, menu for, 32. 
alternating menu for, 33. 

seventeen to eighteen months old, menu for, 31. 
alternating menu for, 32. 

three to five years old, suggestions for breakfast in sum- 
mer for, 39. 

summer dinner menus for, 39. 

twelve months old, Dr. Rotch's suggestions for feed- 
ing, 26. 

twelve to thirteen months old, menu for, 28. 
alternating menu for, 30. 

twenty to thirty months old, menu for, 33. 

use of animal food in diet of, 26. 

variation in food to meet changed conditions in, 2. 

waste and repair in, 1, 2. 

young, Dr. W. Gilman Thompson's rules for feeding, 26. 
Chloral hydrate, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Chloroform, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Clam broth, recipe for, 90. 
Clarified apples, recipe for, 128. 
Cobalt, treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Cold weather, use of heat-producing foods in, 3. 
Cool morning breakfasts, 52. 
Copperas, treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Corn, method of cooking, 116. 
Corn omelet, recipe for, 45. 
Cornmeal muffins, recipe for, 97. 

mush, recipes for, 96, 97. 
Corrosive sublimate, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Cranberries, method of cooking, 122. 
Cream gruel, recipe for, 94. 
Cream muffins, recipe for, 97. 
Cup custards, recipes for, 135. 



INDEX 149 



Custard, chicken, recipe for, 89. 
cup, recipe for, 135. 
egg, without milk, recipe for, 91. 
savory breakfast, recipe for, 92. 
strawberry, recipe for, 126. 



Dainty service, importance of, 43. 
Dates, use of, 122. 

and cream, recipe for, 127. 
Davis, Dr. Edward T., on rate of increase of weight of in- 
fant, 12. 
Dentition, second, sample dinner menu for period of, 42. 
Desserts, 125, 135. 

summer, use of, as supplementary foods, 46. 
Diarrhea, diet in, 63. 
Diet, a sample school, 72. 
convalescent, 61. 
for anemic children, 63. 
for nursing mother, 11. 

abstention from stimulants, 11. 
Dr. Rotch on, 11. 
malt extracts, 11. 
meat, 11. 
milk at night, 11. 
for school children, 66. . 

in illness, 54. 

light, 59, 61. 
liquid, 61. 
necessity for, to be well balanced, 2. 
preventive, 55. 

Sir Henry Thompson on disease caused by errors in, 5. 
summer, 42. 
Digestion, process of, 54. 

Digestive power, weakened, modification of food to suit, 2, 3. 
Dining-room, cool-looking, 44. 
Dinner menu, sample, for period of second dentition, 42. 

menus, summer, for children from three to five years 
old, 39. 
Dinners, simple, 45. 
Diphtheria, diet in, 63. 

Disease, Fonssagrives on prevention of, in children, 55. 
infected milk a means for transmission of, 16. 
liable to follow improper feeding of children, 1. 
Sir Henry Thompson on errors of diet as a cause of, 5, 6. 



ISO INDEX 

Dutton, Professor, on school gardens, 81. 
on school luncheons, 79. 

Egg, custard without milk, recipe for, 91. 

mulled, recipe for, 131. 

poached, recipe for, 92. 
Eggs, when to allow, 27. 
Exercise for nursing mother, 10. 

Farina gruel, recipe for, 94. 

_ porridge, recipe for, 96. 
Feeding, substitute, intervals and amounts, 20. 

Dr. Rotch's table for, 21. 
Feeding-tube, graduated, 22. 
Figs, use of, 122. 
Fish, method of cooking, 106. 
Fonssagrives, on method of cooking eggs, 61. 

on prevention of diseases in children, 55. 

on rules in illness, 56. 
Food, amount of, necessary for children, 2. 

animal, in diet of children, 26. 

Dr. Abernethy on amount of, necessary for the needs of 
the economy, 1. 

heat-producing, suitable for cold weather, 2. 

in illness, preparation of, 4. 

Fonssagrives' rules for, 56. 

liquid, in hot weather, 2. 

proper, as a factor in the development of children, 5. 

reasons for a study of the uses of, 1. 

undigested, manner in which harm is caused by, 4. 

variation in, to meet changed conditions in children, 2. 
Food action, reasons why a mother should understand the prin- 
ciples of, 3. 
Food idiosyncrasies of children, necessity of ascertaining, 3. 
Foods, forbidden, 9. 

nursery, classes of, 7, 8. 

quantities to allow, 25. 

salt-giving, 8. 

starch, home preparation of, for infants, 15. 

supplementary, use of summer desserts as, 46. 
Fowler's solution, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Freeman, Dr. Rowland Godfrey, apparatus for heating milk, 18. 

on night feeding of infants, 12. 
Froebel, Friedrich Wilhelm August, on proper food as a factor 
in the development of children, 6. 



INDEX 151 

Fruit, how to use, 27, 48. 

place of, in the nursery diet, 119. 

sauce, recipe for, 129. 

tapioca pudding, recipe for, 126. 

Gardens, school, Professor Dutton on, 81. 

Gee, Dr., on prevalence of rachitis, 54. 

Gelatin, use of, 135. 

Gingerbread, maple molasses, recipe for, 131. 

Graham muffins, recipe for, 97. 

Grape juice, method of preparing, 124. 

Grapes, use of, 121, 123. 

Gross, Dr. Samuel D., on diet for the sick, 61. 

Growth of infants, normal increase of, 12. 

Gruel, arrowroot, recipe for, 95. 

barley, recipe for, 94. 

browned flour, recipe for, 95. 

cream, recipe for, 94. 

farina, recipe for, 94. 

malted, recipe for, 95. 

oatmeal, recipe for, 93. 

Health, preservation of, Herbert Spencer on, 6. 

Hominy, method of preparing, 96. 

Hot weather, use of liquid food in, 2. 

Hydrocarbons or fats, 8. 

Hydrochloric acid, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 

Illness, diet in, 54. 

convalescent, 59, 61. 
light, 61. 
liquid, 60. 
Fonssagrives' rules in, 56. 
preparation of food in, 3. 
Infants, artificial rearing of, Dr. Eustace Smith on, 3. 
daily naps of, 29. 

home preparation of starch foods for, 15. 
how to feed, during the first two or three days, 11. 
ideal conditions for nursing, 9. 
increase of weight of, an index to nutrition, 12. 
night feeding of, 12. 
normal increase of growth of, 13. 
size of stomach of, at birth, 23, 24. 
> weaning, proper time for, 13. 
Invalids, Dr. S. Weir Mitchell's recipe for, 92. 
Irish moss tea, recipe for, 129. 



. 152 INDEX 

Jacobi, Dr. Abraham, on good food for a baby, 16. 
Jam, rhubarb, recipe for, 128. 

rhubarb and orange, recipe for, 126. 
Jellied apples, recipe for, 127. 
Jelly, blackberry, recipe for, 124. 

bread, recipe for, 131. 

cherry, recipe for, 126. 

oatmeal, recipe for, 97. 

orange, recipe for, 128. 

prune, recipe for, 128. 

rhubarb, recipe for, 127. 

sago, recipe for, 128. 

savory, recipe for, 90. 
Junkets, recipes for, 134. 

Kumiss, recipe for, 133. 

Laudanum, treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Lead- water, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Lime-water, recipe for, 130. 
Luncheon, school, 74. 

in Philadelphia Normal School for Girls, 76. 

Macaroni, method of cooking, 118. 

use of, 46, 118. 
Malt extracts in diet for nursing mother, 11. 
Malted gruel, recipe for, 95. 
Maple molasses gingerbread, recipe for, 131. 
Marshmallow drops, recipe for, 129. 
Meal, first morning, may be given from the bottle, 28. 
Meat in diet of nursing mother, 11. 

not to be given until child is thirty months old, 35. 

powder, home-made, method of preparing, 91. 

stews, method of preparing, 91. 

spare use of, in hot weather, 45. 
Meats, boiled, degree of temperature necessary, 103. 
Menu for fourteen to fifteen-months-old child, 31. 
alternating, 31. 

for nineteen to twenty-months-old child, 32. 
alternating, 33. 

for seventeen to eighteen-months-old child, 31. 
alternating, 32. 

for twelve to thirteen-months-old child, 28. 
alternating, 30. 

for twenty to thirty-months-old child, 33. 

sample, for period of second dentition, 42. 



INDEX 153 

Menus, breakfast, for child of five or six years, 41. 
dinner, allowable after thirty months, 35. 
need of varied, 25. 
place of cereals in, 25. 

summer dinner, for children from three to five years, 39. 
week's, for children over five years, 36. 
Sunday, 36. 
Monday, 36. 
Tuesday, 37. 
Wednesday, 37. 
Thursday, 38. 
Friday, 38. 
Saturday, 38. 
Milk, a source of transmission of infectious diseases, 16. 
apparatus for heating, 17. 
Dr. Freeman's, 18. 
at night in diet of nursing mother, 11. 
care necessary in preservation of, 15, 16, 17. 
precautions necessary in the keeping of, 17, 18. 
pure, requirements for, 15. 
raw cow's, changing to, in weaning, 13. 
reason for pasteurization of, 16. 
soup, recipes for, 87, 89. 
temperature to which it should be heated, 18. 
Milk jelly, 136. 
Milk puddings, 136. 

Milk-sugar, use of, in early feeding of an infant, 11. 
Mitchell, Dr. S. Weir, recipe for food for invalids, 92. 
Moravian cake, recipe for, 101. 
Morphine, treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Mother, convenient daily routine for, 29. 
nursing, diet for, 11. 
exercise for, 10. 

necessity for controlling her temperament, 10. 
reasons why principles of food-action should be under- 
stood by, 3. 
should supervise preparation of food in illness, 4. 
Muffins, cornmeal, recipe for, 97. 
cream, recipe for, 97. 
Graham, recipe for, 97. 
Mulled egg, recipe for, 131. 
Mutton and veal broth, recipe for, 89. 
tea, recipe for, 88. 



154 INDEX 

Night feeding for infants, 12. 
of children, 29, 30. 
Nipple, bottle, care of, 19. 

Nitrate of silver, treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Nursery foods, classes of, 7. 
Nursing, ideal conditions for, 9. 

intervals for, 11. 

reasons for not, 10. 
Nux vomica, treatment of poisoning by, 66. 

Oatmeal blanc-mange, recipe for, 96. 

gruel, recipe for, 93. 

jelly, recipe for, 97. 

porridge, recipe for, 95. 
Oil of vitriol, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Omelet, corn, recipe for, 45. 

onion, recipe for, 46. 
Onion, method of cooking, 112. 

omelet, recipe for, 46. 
Opium (paregoric), treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Orange jelly, recipe for, 128. 

sirup, recipe for, 130. 
Oxalic acid, treatment of poisoning by, 65, 
Oyster broth, recipe for, 90. 

Parry, Dr. John S.. on prevalence of rachitis, 54. 

Partridge, method of cooking, 108. 

Peaches, use of, 123. 

Peas, method of cooking, 113. 

Pheasant, method of cooking, 108. 

Pineapple, use of, 121. 

Poached egg, method of cooking, 92. 

Poisoning, rules for cases of, 64. 

Poisons, antidotes for, 65. 

antimonial wine, 65. 

aqua fortis, 65. 

arsenic, 65. 

bedbug poison, 65. 

bicarbonate of potassium, 65. 

blue vitriol, 65. 

carbolic acid, 65. 

carbonate of sodium, 66. 

caustic potash, 65. 

caustic soda, 65. 

chloral hydrate, 65. 



INDEX 155 



Poisons — Continued. 

chloroform, 65. 

cobalt, 66. 

copperas, 66. 

corrosive sublimate, 65. 

Fowler's solution, 65. 

hydrochloric acid, 65. 

laudanum, 66. 

lead-water, 65. 

morphine, 66. 

nitrate of silver, 66. 

nux vomica, 66. 

oil of vitriol, 65. 

opium (paregoric), 66. 

oxalic acid, 65. 

red precipitate, 65. 

saltpetre, 65. 

strychnine (rat and beetle poison), 66. 

sugar of lead, 65. 

sulphate of zinc, 65. 

tartar emetic, 65. 

vermilion, 65. 

volatile alkali, 65. 

white precipitate, 65. 
Porridge, farina, recipe for, 96. 

oatmeal, recipe for, 95. 

wheat, recipe for, 96. 
Potato soup, recipe for, 90. 
Potatoes, method of cooking, 117. 
Proteids, 7. 

Prune jelly, recipe for, 128. 
Pudding, bread, recipe for, 132. 

fruit tapioca, recipe for, 126. 

rice, with eggs, recipe for, 131. 

without eggs, recipe for, 132. 

snow, recipe for, 132. 

Rachitis, Dr. Gee on prevalence of, 54. 

Dr. Parry on prevalence of, 54. 
Raspberries, use of, 121. 
Raspberry blanc-mange, recipe for, 126. 
Recipes, 83. 

apple sauce, 115. 
snow, 127. 

apple-water, 128. 



156 INDEX 

Recipes — Continued. 

arrowroot gruel, 95. 
barley broth, 88. 

gruel, 94. 
barley-water with white of egg, 133. 
beef broth, 86. 

essence, 88. 

juice, 88. 

tea, 88. 
blackberry jelly, 124. 
bread, 98. 

jelly, 131. 

pudding, 132. 
broth, barley, 88. 

beef, 86. 

chicken, 87, 89. 

clam, 90. 

mutton and veal, 89. 

oyster, 90. 

veal, 89. 
brown Betty, 125. 
browned flour gruel, 95. 
cherry jelly, 126. 
chicken broth, 87, 89. 
clam broth, 90. 
clarified apples, 128. 
corn omelet, 45. 
cornmeal muffins, 97. 

mush, 96, 97. 
cream gruel, 94. 

muffins, 97. 
custard, chicken, 89. 

cup, 135. 

egg, without milk, 91. 

savory breakfast, 92. 

strawberry, 126. 
dates and cream, 127. 
egg custard without milk, 91. 
farina gruel, 94. 

porridge, 96. 
fruit sauce, 129. 

tapioca pudding, 126. 
Graham muffins, 97. 
grape juice, 124. 



INDEX 157 



Recipes— Continued. 

gruel, arrowroot, 95. 

barley, 94. 

browned flour, 95. 

cream, 94. 

farina, 94. 

malted, 95. 

oatmeal, 93. 
hominy, 96. 
Irish moss tea, 129. 
jellied apples, 127. 
jelly, blackberry, 124. 

bread, 131. 

cherry, 126. 

oatmeal, 97. 

orange, 128. 

prune, 128. 

rhubarb, 127. 

sago, 128. 

savory, 90. 
junkets, 134. 
kumiss, 134. 
lime-water, 130. 
malted gruel, 95. 
maple molasses gingerbread, 131. 
marshmallow drops, 129. 
meat powder, home-made, 91. 

stews, 104. 
milk jelly, 136. 
milk puddings, 136. 
milk soup, 87, 89. 
Moravian cake, 101. 
muffins, cornmeal, 97. 

cream, 97. 

Graham, 97. 
mulled egg, 131. 
mutton and veal broth, 89. 

tea, 88. 
oatmeal blanc-mange, 96. 

gruel, 93. 

jelly, 97. 

porridge, 95. 
omelet, corn, 45. 
onion omelet, 46. 



158 INDEX 

Recipes — Continued. 

orange jelly, 128. 
sirup, 130. 
oyster broth, 90. 
poached eggs, 92. 
porridge, farina, 96. 
oatmeal, 95. 
wheat, 96. 
potato soup, 90. 
prune jelly, 128. 
pudding, bread, 132. 

fruit tapioca, 126. 
rice, with eggs, 131. 

without eggs, 132. 
snow, 132. 
raspberry blanc-mange, 126. 
rhubarb and orange jam, 126. 
jam, 128. 
jelly, 127. 
mold, 127. 
rice-water, 130. 
roast-beef gravy, 90. 
sago jelly, 128. 
savory breakfast custard, 92. 

jelly, 90. 
sponge cake, 131. 
strawberry custard, 126. 
tapioca with chicken or meat jelly, 92. 
veal broth, 89. 
Red precipitate, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Rhubarb and orange jam, recipe for, 126. 
jam, recipe for, 128. 
jelly, recipe for, 127. 
mold, recipe for, 127. 
Rice, method of cooking, 116. 
milk, recipe for, 130. 
pudding with eggs, recipe for, 131. 
pudding, without eggs, recipe for, 132. 
Rice-water, recipe for, 130. 
Roast beef, method of cooking, 104. 
Roast-beef gravy, method of preparing, 90. 

Sago jelly, recipe for, 128. 

Salads, use of, 119. 

Saltpetre, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 



INDEX 159 

Sauce, fruit, recipe for, 129. 
School children, diet for, 66. 

Dr. W. Gilman Thompson on diet for, 68. 

diet, a sample, 72. 

gardens, 81. 

luncheons, 74. 

in the Philadelphia Normal School for Girls, 76. 
_ Professor Dutton on, 79. 
Service, dainty, importance of, 43. 
Sleeplessness, importance of correcting, 47. 
Smith, Dr. Eustace, on artificial rearing of infants, 3. 
Snow pudding, recipe for, 132. 
Soup, milk, recipe for, 87, 89. 

potato, recipe for, 90. 
Soups, use of vegetables in, 84. 
Spaghetti, method of preparing, 46, 118. 
Spencer, Herbert, on preservation of health, 6. 
Spinach, method of cooking, 111. 
Sponge-cake, recipe for, 131. 
Squabs, method of cooking, 108. 

Starch food, home-made preparation of, for infants, 15. 
Starvation, tissue, 5. 
Stews, meat, method of preparing, 104. 
Stimulants, harmful in diet of nursing mother, 11. 
Stomach, infant's, size of, at birth, 23, 24. 
Strauss, Nathan, 18. 
Strawberries, use of, 122. 
Strawberry custard, recipe for, 126. 
Strychnine (rat paste), treatment of poisoning by, 66. 
Sugar, amount of, permissible, 50. 

use of, on cereals, 51. 
Sugar of lead, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Sulphate of zinc, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Summer breakfasts, 43. 

suggestions for, for children from three to five 
years old, 39. 

desserts, use of, as supplementary foods, 46. 

diet, 42. 

suppers, 46, 49. 
Supper dishes, simple, for summer and winter, 49. 
Suppers, summer, 46. 
Sweetbreads, method of cooking, 104. 

Tapioca, use of, in summer diet, 45. 

with chicken or meat jelly, recipe for, 92. 



160 INDEX 

Tartar emetic, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Tea, beef, recipe for, 88. 

Irish moss, recipe for, 129. 
Thompson, Dr. W. Gilman, on diet for school children, 88. 

on dietetics, 63. 

on feeble children, 68. 

on general rules for feeding young children, 26. 

on method of cooking eggs, 106. 
Thompson, Sir Henry, on diseases caused by errors in diet, 5. 

on use of macaroni, 118. 
Tissue starvation, 5. 
Tomatoes, method of cooking, 114. 
Turkey, roasted, part to use, 108. 
Typhoid fever, diet in, 63. 

Undigested food, manner in which harm is caused by, 4. 

Veal broth, recipe for, 89. 

Vegetables, use of, in soups and broths, 84. 

useof, in the nursery, 111. 
Vermicelli, method of cooking, 118. 
Vermilion, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Volatile alkali, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 

Walker, Dr. Jane H., on treatment of cases of poisoning, 64. 

Walker, Dr. Jerome, on "animal-crackers," 100. 

Waste and repair in children, 1, 2. 

Water, importance of drinking sufficient, 49. 

use of, 4, 64. 
Weaning, changing from prepared milk to raw cow's milk, 14. 

method of substituting bottle food, 13. 

proper time for, 13. 
Weight of infant as an index to nutrition, 12. 
Wheat porridge, recipe for, 96. 
White precipitate, treatment of poisoning by, 65. 
Wine whey, recipe for, 133. 
Winter breakfasts, combinations for, 40. 

simple supper dishes for, 49. 

Yale, Dr, on use of vegetables in soups and broths, 85. 
Yeo, Dr. I. Burney, on diet for school children, 66. 



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